The Sage Encyclopedia of Social Science Research Methods

Your Research Project

The editors have brought together leading names in the field of online research to give a thoroughly up to date commentary on current debates. The chapters cover both methodological and procedural themes, offering readers a sophisticated treatment of the practice and uses of Internet and online research that is grounded in research methodology. Beginning with an examination of the significance of the Internet as a research medium, the book goes on to cover research design, data capture, the survey, virtual ethnography, and the internet as an archival resource, and concludes by looking at potential directions for the future of Internet and online research.

The SAGE handbook of online research methods

This paper analyzes the interactions between competitive (wholesale) spot, retail, and forward markets and vertical integration in electricity markets. We develop an equilibrium model with producers, retailers, and traders to study and quantify the impact of forward markets and vertical integration on prices, risk premia, and retail market shares. We point out that forward hedging and vertical integration are two separate mechanisms for demand and spot price risk diversification that both reduce the retail price and increase retail market shares. We show that they differ in their impact on prices and firms utility because of the asymmetry between production and retail segments. Vertical integration restores the symmetry between producers and retailers exposure to demand risk, whereas linear forward contracts do not. Vertical integration is superior to forward hedging when retailers are highly risk averse. We illustrate our analysis with data from the French electricity market

Shao Khatala

Papers

Practical guidelines for participatory communication when promoting electricity customers' involvement during an electricity tariffs review process