In 1995-6 as a senior in college I wrote my honors thesis for my sociology major on the diffusion of the Internet among university undergraduates. It was an interesting period to get a snapshot, mostly because while today Internet adoption rates reportedly top 63% of all adult Americans, back in 1996 it wasn't nearly so popular, or so clear that those who were using the Internet would continue once the university stopped providing access.
Fast forward to 2004-5 and I'm writing my note, again on a topic that will involve universities and the Internet. In doing my research I've been prompted to go back and look at my old work. While I cringe at some of the writing, and it suffers from being the work of an inexperienced undergraduate researcher, in looking back at it now I think some of the analysis holds up pretty well. It's also interesting to have a snapshot of data from that period. While professional researchers might have been able to accumulate their data more deftly, the methodology was about as well-controlled as was feasible, and in the end I think reasonably valid.