Understanding and Using Virtual Ethnography in Virtual Environments

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Author(s): Robert Hancock (Southeastern Louisiana University, USA), Mindy Crain-Dorough (Southeastern Louisiana University, USA), Becky Parton (Southeastern Louisiana University, USA)and Jeff Oescher (Southeastern Louisiana University, USA)
Copyright: 2011
Pages: 12
Source title: Handbook of Research on Methods and Techniques for Studying Virtual Communities: Paradigms and Phenomena
Source Author(s)/Editor(s): Ben Kei Daniel (University of Saskatchewan, Canada)
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-60960-040-2.ch027

Keywords: Information Science Reference / Media & Communications / Social Computing / Virtual Communities & Virtual Reality

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Abstract

This chapter proposes to outline a process of virtual ethnography that combines emic and etic methods of data gathering adapted to the virtual context to provide a ‘true’ (Richardson, 2000) accounting of the social constructs inherent in the virtual world. The first section of this chapter discusses the unique characteristics of virtual ethnography when used to explore virtual environments such as Second Life or MMORPGs such as World of Warcraft. The second section presents some of the methodological issues related to conducting such research. Finally, the third section offers for consideration some unique challenges related to the application of such methods. Two concerns are discussed: 1) identifying an understanding the phenomenological structures unique to a particular virtual environment and 2) the implications of such knowledge with regard to the design of new virtual educational environments.

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