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Virtual Ethnography

First Edition

Christine Hine - University of Surrey, UK

Other Titles in:
Cultural Theory | Mass Communication | Sociological Research Methods

April 2000 | 192 pages | SAGE Publications Ltd

Cutting though the exaggerated and fanciful beliefs about the new possibilities of `net life', Hine produces a distinctive understanding of the significance of the net 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.

Introduction

Internet as Culture and Cultural Artefact

The Virtual Objects of Ethnography

The Making of a Virtual Ethnography

Time, Space and Technology

Authenticity and Identity in Internet Contexts

Reflection

`This book reflects scholarly dedication to enlarging the discussion on the nature and role of the internet, and provides insight into how ethnographic methodologies can be adapted creatively to research into modern electronic forms of communication. A glossary of internet terms adds to the usefulness of this well-referenced treaties' - International Journal of Market Research

`There is so much to praise in this excellent book: its sensitivity to the culture, its alertness to the most demanding scholarly standards, its innovative analysis of the World Wide Web and its elegant, lively presentation. Students and researchers of the emerging culture should not be without it!' - Sean Cubitt, Liverpool John Moores University

Excellent text on ethnography. Useful in documentary media course.

Ms Ayana Haaruun

Media Communications, Kennedy - King College

September 4, 2013

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Find the approach both innovative and relevant to students' interest and course goals

Dr Huiling Ding

English Dept, Clemson University

January 17, 2012

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Christine M Hine

Christine Hine is a reader in sociology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Surrey. Her main research centres on the sociology of science and technology with a particular interest in the role played by new technologies in the knowledge production process. She also has a major interest in the development of ethnography in technical settings, and in “virtual methods” (the use of the Internet for social research). In particular, she has developed mobile and connective approaches to ethnography which combine online and offline social contexts. She is the author of Virtual Ethnography (SAGE Publications, 2000), Systematics as... More About Author

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