In the current moment, ethnography is caught up in a number of debates that have led ethnographers to reflect on classic methodological and ethical dilemmas in new ways. The “replication crisis” had led to a movement for “open science” (e.g., registering hypotheses in advance; sharing codes and data), but it seems unclear that recommended best practices are appropriate to ethnography. It’s even up for debate whether ethnography is more of a social science or a genre. The fact that many ethnographies are widely read invites questions and criticisms from beyond the ivory tower–including our subjects–about the ethics of representation (e.g., who has license to write about whom) and the extent to which journalistic standards of data verification and transparency (e.g., fact checking, naming sources) should apply to qualitative research. Some ethnographers are calling for more open, critical discussions about the embodied dimensions of fieldwork, including not only emotions but also issues like sexual intimacy and harassment. There’s also a growing expectation that ethnographers empower our subjects to represent and analyze themselves. What’s more, as more of social life is lived online, it becomes increasingly unclear where the boundaries of the “field site” should be drawn and whether ethnographic conventions can be applied wholesale to the study of digital spaces.

Lecturers, request your electronic inspection copy This sharp, innovative book champions the rising significance of ethnographic research on the use of digital resources around the world. It contextualises digital and pre-digital ethnographic research and demonstrates how the methodological, practical and theoretical dimensions are increasingly intertwined. Digital ethnography is central to our understanding of the social world; it can shape methodology and methods, and provides the technological tools needed to research society. The authoritative team of authors clearly set out how to research localities, objects and events as well as providing insights into exploring individuals’ or communities’ lived experiences, practices and relationships. The book: Defines a series of central concepts in this new branch of social and cultural research Challenges existing conceptual and analytical categories Showcases new and innovative methods Theorises the digital world in new ways Encourages us to rethink pre-digital practices, media and environments This is the ideal introduction for anyone intending to conduct ethnographic research in today’s digital society.

Audiovisual and Digital Ethnography is a state-of-the-art introduction to this dynamic and growing subject. The authors explain its fundamental aspects in a clear and systematic way. The chapters cover topics including: learning to see and listen in the field and the role of sensory attention the mediation of the senses doing anthropological fieldwork with video observational filmmaking ethnographic drawing multimodal anthropology digital ethnography interactive documentary the ethics and management of audiovisual and digital data. The result is a much-needed, up-to-date and concise guide to both the fundamental skills required for audiovisual and digital ethnographic production and the essential theoretical knowledge relating to this. It will be particularly useful for students and scholars in the fields of Anthropology, Sociology, Cultural Studies, Social Sciences, Media, Design, Art Practice and Sound Studies.

Cutting though the exaggerated and fanciful beliefs about the new possibilities of `net life′, Hine produces a distinctive understanding of the significance of the Internet and addresses such questions as: what challenges do the new technologies of communication pose for research methods? Does the Internet force us to rethink traditional categories of `culture′ and `society′? In this compelling and thoughtful book, Hine shows that the Internet is both a site for cultural formations and a cultural artefact which is shaped by people′s understandings and expectations. The Internet requires a new form of ethnography. The author considers the shape of this new ethnography and guides readers through its application in multiple settings.

Internet Research Ethics for the Social Age: New Challenges, Cases, and Contexts directly engages with the discussions and debates surrounding the Internet, and stimulates new ways to think about - and work towards resolving - the novel ethical dilemmas we face as internet and social media-based research continues to evolve.

All social researchers need to think about ethical issues. Their salience has recently been increased by the pressures of ethical regulation, particularly in the case of qualitative research. But what are ethical issues? And how should they be approached? These are not matters about which there is agreement. Ethics in Qualitative Research explores conflicting philosophical assumptions, the diverse social contexts in which ethical problems arise, and the complexities of handling them in practice. The authors argue that the starting point for any discussion of research ethics must be the values intrinsic to research, above all the commitment to knowledge-production. However, the pursuit of inquiry is rightly constrained by external values, and the book focuses on three of these: minimising harm, respecting autonomy, and protecting privacy. These external values are shown to be far from unequivocal in character, often in conflict with one another (or with the commitments of research), and always subject to situational interpretation and practical judgment. Nevertheless, it is contended that in the present challenging times it is essential that qualitative researchers uphold research values. Martyn Hammersley is Professor of Educational and Social Research at The Open University. Anna Traianou is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies, Goldsmiths, University of London.

The internet has become embedded into our daily lives, no longer an esoteric phenomenon, but instead an unremarkable way of carrying out our interactions with one another. Online and offline are interwoven in everyday experience. Using the internet has become accepted as a way of being present in the world, rather than a means of accessing some discrete virtual domain. Ethnographers of these contemporary Internet-infused societies consequently find themselves facing serious methodological dilemmas: where should they go, what should they do there and how can they acquire robust knowledge about what people do in, through and with the internet?This book presents an overview of the challenges faced by ethnographers who wish to understand activities that involve the internet. Suitable for both new and experienced ethnographers, it explores both methodological principles and practical strategies for coming to terms with the definition of field sites, the connections between online and offline and the changing nature of embodied experience. Examples are drawn from a wide range of settings, including ethnographies of scientific institutions, television, social media and locally based gift-giving networks.

This book is designed to introduce doctoral and graduate students to the process of conducting scientific research in the social sciences, business, education, public health, and related disciplines. It is a one-stop, comprehensive, and compact source for foundational concepts in behavioral research, and can serve as a stand-alone text or as a supplement to research readings in any doctoral seminar or research methods class. This book is currently used as a research text at universities on six continents and will shortly be available in nine different languages.

In this comprehensive review of urban ethnography, Steven Lubet encountered a field that relies heavily on anonymous sources, often as reported by a single investigator whose underlying data remain unseen. Upon digging into the details, he discovered too many ethnographic assertions that were dubious, exaggerated, tendentious, or just plain wrong. Employing the tools and techniques of a trial lawyer, Lubet uses original sources and contemporaneous documentation to explore the stories behind ethnographic narratives. Many turn out to be accurate, but others are revealed to be based on rumors, folklore, and unreliable hearsay. Interrogating Ethnography explains how qualitative social science would benefit from greater attention to the quality of evidence, and provides recommendations for bringing the field more closely in line with other fact-based disciplines such as law and journalism.

Digital culture and digital technologies have rapidly become unavoidable and essential forms of social experience and communication in our emerging globalised society. If we want to attempt to analyse and understand our technology-saturated society, and all its new media, then we must also develop research methods and forms of analysis that can accommodate and exploit digital culture and digital technologies. This important new methods text sets out to equip qualitative researchers with the tools necessary to conduct ethnography in the age of email and the internet. It will investigate how digital technologies potentially transform the ways in which we do research. This text also introduces the reader to new emerging methods that utilise new technologies and explains how to conduct data collection, analysis and representation using new technologies and `hypermedia′. Essential reading for any student or researcher interested in qualitative research in an age of hypermedia, this text: - explains how digital technology impacts on social research; - investigates how digital technology has reshaped the field of social research; - consider the implications of bringing multimedia into the forefront of qualitative research; - suggests new ways of observing and documenting a `technologised′ and design-rich society; - enables the reader to use new technologies to handle and represent qualitative data; - unpacks the theoretical implications of writing and researching for the electronic screen