The participants in the study were provided home access to the Internet and reported an integration of technology into their daily lives. They were able to seek information about health concerns and to help their children raise their grades in school through extra credit assignments improved by the use of the information on the Internet. More interpretive analyses provide explanations or even help to create some generalizations. New concepts may be developed or extended. Interpretive studies help provide insights that have the power to change behavior, refine knowledge, or to identify problems.
Some analyses take on the task of verifying assumptions, theories or generalizations.
Finally, evaluative efforts yield information on policies, practices, or innovations. When the purpose of the study is exploratory in nature, case or field studies are conducted. Bier et al. These families were provided Internet access and training for electronic communication. Over a period of six months they collected data through weekly home interviews, monthly group interviews, intermittent technical support visits, telephone and e-mail interactions, and actual participant sharing sessions.