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Introduction to online ethnography
The document explores online ethnography, defining it as qualitative research focused on online environments and discussing its evolution across four waves from the early 1990s to present day. It outlines various methodologies like interviews, participant observation, and ethical considerations essential for conducting such research. The author, Anna Haverinen, emphasizes the importance of contextual understanding and meaningful engagement in collecting data.
Introduction to online ethnography
- 1. Anna Haverinen, PhD,Design Anthropologist DIGGING DEEP IN THE DIGITAL – PRACTICING ONLINE ETHNOGRAPHY
- 2. 1. What isonline ethnography? 2. Four waves of online ethnography 3. Method examples 4. Ethical questions AGENDA
- 3. I, ETHNOGRAPHER Online deathscholar becomes a design anthropologist • 2007 Undergraduate thesis about stand up comedy • 2009 Master’s thesis about online memorials • 2014 PhD about death rituals online • 2015 Post-doc (suspended) about online violence • 2012 ⟶ private sector researcher and service designer
- 4. 1.What is onlineethnography?
- 5. Online ethnography isqualitative research where the focus of inquiry is in online environments accessible through computers, VR/AR and smart devices.
- 6. “Ethnography is aflexible, responsive methodology, sensitive to emergent phenomena and emergent research questions” (Boellstorff, Nardi, Pearce & Taylor 2012, 6).
- 7. 2.Four waves ofonline ethnography
- 8. 1989 – 1994 1995 – 2000 Communities in text basedvirtual worlds (known as MOOs and MUDs and collaborative software Internet became increasingly commercialied and popularised. Users and documentation were in the focus of interest. Include new technologies, such as smartphone and tablet technology, which have developed in giant leaps, as well as social media applications and even big data. 2007 – 2015 The early years of social media applications and the increasing popularisation of massive multi-user online gaming environments. Paradigms shifted ‘from data documentation to analysis’ since ‘the web became the utility of the masses’ (Wellman 2011, 20). Fifth age? 2001 – 2006 cyber / electronic / e- digital / virtual digital / online /internet
- 9. FIRST AGE: UNDERSTANDING IDENTITIES (EARLY/ MID 1990S) • Communication dominated the Internet, by asynchronous email and discussion lists and by synchronous instant messaging and chat groups. • All were supposedly connected to all, without boundaries of time and space. (Wellman 2009)
- 10. SECOND AGE: STATISTICS AND NUMBERS(LATE 1990S) Systematic documentation of users and uses: • large user surveys and user demographics, • global scale transformations • ”how many people have access to the Web?”
- 11. THIRD AGE: SPECIALISTS ANDNEW COMERS (EARLY 2000S) • Internet research was incorporated in existing fields • More developed theories, methods and substantive lore of the disciplines into play, although sometimes at the cost of the adventurous innovativeness of interdisciplinary Internet research • Association of Internet Researchers (AoIR) started in 2000 • Journals: Computers in Human Behavior, Information, Communication and Society; The Information Society; Journal of Computer Mediated Communication, New Media and Society..
- 12. FOURTH AGE: MEDIATED EVERYDAY(LATE 2000S AND 2010S) • Explosion of social media applications • Internet consumerism • Big data • Digital humanism • Internet of Things • ”how many people have access to the Web?” ⟶ ”how many people are on/not anymore on Facebook?”
- 13. FIFTH AGE –EMBODIED DATA / QUANTIFIED HUMAN
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- 15. ”Just saying somethingis ethnographic does not make it so.” (Boellstorff 2012, 40)
- 16. ETHNOGRAPHY IS CONTEXTUAL • Communicationis always contextualized (i.e. mediated, embodied, emplaced) by, for example, relationships, setting, layout, gesture, accent, and typography. Sometimes the medium (i.e. technology) is the least of the mediators. (Thurlow & Mroczek 2011, xxiv) • Not all qualitative research is ethnography
- 17. ETHNOGRAPHY IS CONTEXTUAL • Communicationis always contextualized (i.e. mediated, embodied, emplaced) by, for example, relationships, setting, layout, gesture, accent, and typography. Sometimes the medium (i.e. technology) is the least of the mediators. (Thurlow & Mroczek 2011, xxiv) • Not all qualitative research is ethnography
- 18. Qualitative interview is often aimingfor comparability. Ethnographic interview leaves room for improvisation, the new insight.
- 19. Qualitative interview usually has atheoretical frame and a hypothesis. Ethnographic interview is open and the theory / hypothesis is formed through analysis.
- 20. • Participant observation •Interviews (email, chat, in-person) • Surveys • Screen video and screenshots • Field diary • Research blogging • Co-ethnography • Self-reflection (autoethnography) METHODS & TOOLS
- 24. OBSERVING VS. PARTICIPATING • Thepresence of the researcher is difficult to hide in offline settings • Observer can also become observed • Dilemma: getting to know the people • Public vs. private spaces: what am I allowed to do? • Don’t be a lurker: consider ethics!
- 25. RESEARCH REQUESTS ”Hi myname is Anna, I’m a researcher from Finland and found your blog. Can you please join my research? Fill this questionnaire please. Thank you! Best wishes, Anna Haverinen”
- 26. RESEARCH REQUESTS ”Hi myname is Anna, I’m a researcher from Finland and found your blog. Can you please join my research? Fill this questionnaire please. Thank you! Best wishes, Anna Haverinen”
- 27. RESEARCH REQUEST CHECK LIST •Be polite, but not boring • Always show your full name & contact details, the name of the study, your university and your supervisor • Be explicit what is being studied and why? Why should the person participate? • Ditch the jargon: your grandma should understand the topic • Consider GDPR!
- 28. INTERVIEWING • What isthe difference between online and offline interviews? • What if people lie? • Cross-continental interviewing? • With foreign language? • Groups or individuals?
- 29. INTERVIEWING CHECKLIST • Practise yourquestions and themes, use colleagues and friends for practise • Double check your documentation technology. Then double check again • Being nervous is ok! • Don’t be afraid of the silence • Ask why and why again, assuming is dangerous
- 31. FIELD DIARY • Theimportance of documenting and first impressions can not be underestimated • Analog, digital, photographs, video, hashtags, notes, public or private.. • First impressions • Feelings • How, where, what, why, who..?
- 32. • Social mediadata collection tools: http://socialmediadata.wikidot.com/ (Curated by Deen Freelon, Ph.D. | freelon@american.edu | http://dfreelon.org | @dfreelon) • Smart phone technology has enabled an explosion of data accessibility and data production • If it’s accessible, it might not be ethical to access • It’s if downloadable / recordable, it might not be ethical to download / record DATA COLLECTION – EASIER BUT MORE COMPLEX
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- 34. • Is itan empirical study of cultural and social behavior? • Are you engaging in the phenomenon yourself or just observing? • Are you collecting data in a contextually rich way? • Have you conducted qualitatively rich interviews? • Is it based on actual lived experiences or in ”laboratory” settings? • Is it inductive? (i.e. knowledge builds gradually) IS MY RESEARCH ETHNOGRAPHIC?
- 37. THANK YOU. Anna Haverinen| PhD | Design Anthropologist aehaverinen@gmail.com www.annahaverinen.com | @Ahaverine More great research references in my Ethnos ry. article: Internet Ethnography: The Past, the Present and the Future (2015)