Ethnography And Virtual World

Author : Tom Boellstorff
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691264856
Total Pages : 264 pages
Book Rating : 4.51/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Ethnography and Virtual Worlds written by Tom Boellstorff and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2024-08-06 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A practical guide to the ethnographic study of online cultures, and beyond Ethnography and Virtual Worlds is the only book of its kind—a concise, comprehensive, and practical guide for students, teachers, designers, and scholars interested in using ethnographic methods to study online virtual worlds, including both game and nongame environments. Written by leading ethnographers of virtual worlds, and focusing on the key method of participant observation, the book provides invaluable advice, tips, guidelines, and principles to aid researchers through every stage of a project, from choosing an online fieldsite to writing and publishing the results. Provides practical and detailed techniques for ethnographic research customized to reflect the specific issues of online virtual worlds, both game and nongame Draws on research in a range of virtual worlds, including Everquest, Second Life, There.com, and World of Warcraft Provides suggestions for dealing with institutional review boards, human subjects protocols, and ethical issues Guides the reader through the full trajectory of ethnographic research, from research design to data collection, data analysis, and writing up and publishing research results Addresses myths and misunderstandings about ethnographic research, and argues for the scientific value of ethnography

Author : Tom Boellstorff
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 0691168342
Total Pages : 348 pages
Book Rating : 4.40/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Coming of Age in Second Life written by Tom Boellstorff and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-08-25 with total page 348 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millions of people around the world today spend portions of their lives in online virtual worlds. Second Life is one of the largest of these virtual worlds. The residents of Second Life create communities, buy property and build homes, go to concerts, meet in bars, attend weddings and religious services, buy and sell virtual goods and services, find friendship, fall in love--the possibilities are endless, and all encountered through a computer screen. At the time of its initial publication in 2008, Coming of Age in Second Life was the first book of anthropology to examine this thriving alternate universe. Tom Boellstorff conducted more than two years of fieldwork in Second Life, living among and observing its residents in exactly the same way anthropologists traditionally have done to learn about cultures and social groups in the so-called real world. He conducted his research as the avatar "Tom Bukowski," and applied the rigorous methods of anthropology to study many facets of this new frontier of human life, including issues of gender, race, sex, money, conflict and antisocial behavior, the construction of place and time, and the interplay of self and group. Coming of Age in Second Life shows how virtual worlds can change ideas about identity and society. Bringing anthropology into territory never before studied, this book demonstrates that in some ways humans have always been virtual, and that virtual worlds in all their rich complexity build upon a human capacity for culture that is as old as humanity itself. Now with a new preface in which the author places his book in light of the most recent transformations in online culture, Coming of Age in Second Life remains the classic ethnography of virtual worlds.

Author : Christine Hine
Publisher : SAGE
ISBN 13 : 1847876498
Total Pages : 188 pages
Book Rating : 4.92/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Virtual Ethnography written by Christine Hine and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2000-04-04 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Author : Sarah Pink
Publisher : SAGE
ISBN 13 : 1473943132
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.31/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Digital Ethnography written by Sarah Pink and published by SAGE. This book was released on 2015-10-09 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Author : Thomas Malaby
Publisher : Cornell University Press
ISBN 13 : 0801457750
Total Pages : 176 pages
Book Rating : 4.53/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Making Virtual Worlds written by Thomas Malaby and published by Cornell University Press. This book was released on 2011-01-15 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The past decade has seen phenomenal growth in the development and use of virtual worlds. In one of the most notable, Second Life, millions of people have created online avatars in order to play games, take classes, socialize, and conduct business transactions. Second Life offers a gathering point and the tools for people to create a new world online. Too often neglected in popular and scholarly accounts of such groundbreaking new environments is the simple truth that, of necessity, such virtual worlds emerge from physical workplaces marked by negotiation, creation, and constant change. Thomas Malaby spent a year at Linden Lab, the real-world home of Second Life, observing those who develop and profit from the sprawling, self-generating system they have created. Some of the challenges created by Second Life for its developers were of a very traditional nature, such as how to cope with a business that is growing more quickly than existing staff can handle. Others are seemingly new: How, for instance, does one regulate something that is supposed to run on its own? Is it possible simply to create a space for people to use and then not govern its use? Can one apply these same free-range/free-market principles to the office environment in which the game is produced? "Lindens"—as the Linden Lab employees call themselves—found that their efforts to prompt user behavior of one sort or another were fraught with complexities, as a number of ongoing processes collided with their own interventions. Malaby thoughtfully describes the world of Linden Lab and the challenges faced while he was conducting his in-depth ethnographic research there. He shows how the workers of a very young but quickly growing company were themselves caught up in ideas about technology, games, and organizations, and struggled to manage not only their virtual world but also themselves in a nonhierarchical fashion. In exploring the practices the Lindens employed, he questions what was at stake in their virtual world, what a game really is (and how people participate), and the role of the unexpected in a product like Second Life and an organization like Linden Lab.

Author : Louise Phillips
Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136250514
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.14/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Researching Virtual Worlds written by Louise Phillips and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013-09-11 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume presents a wide range of methodological strategies that are designed to take into account the complex, emergent, and continually shifting character of virtual worlds. It interrogates how virtual worlds emerge as objects of study through the development and application of various methodological strategies. Virtual worlds are not considered objects that exist as entities with fixed attributes independent of our continuous engagement with them and interpretation of them. Instead, they are conceived of as complex ensembles of technology, humans, symbols, discourses, and economic structures, ensembles that emerge in ongoing practices and specific situations. A broad spectrum of perspectives and methodologies is presented: Actor-Network-Theory and post-Actor-Network-Theory, performativity theory, ethnography, discourse analysis, Sense-Making Methodology, visual ethnography, multi-sited ethnography, and Social Network Analysis.

Author : Robert V Kozinets
Publisher : SAGE Publications
ISBN 13 : 1848606451
Total Pages : 233 pages
Book Rating : 4.56/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Netnography written by Robert V Kozinets and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2010 with total page 233 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With as many as 1 billion people now using online communities such as newsgroups, blogs, forums, social networking sites, podcasting, videocasting, photosharing communities, and virtual worlds, the internet is now an important site for research. This exciting new text is the first to explore the discipline of 'Netnography' - the conduct of ethnography over the internet - a method specifically designed to study cultures and communities online. For the first time, full procedural guidelines for the accurate and ethical conduct of ethnographic research online are set out, with detailed, step-by-step guidance to thoroughly introduce, explain, and illustrate the method to students and researchers. The author also surveys the latest research on online cultures and communities, focusing on the methods used to study them, with examples focusing on the new elements and contingencies of the blogosphere (blogging), microblogging, videocasting, podcasting, social networking sites, virtual worlds and more. This book will be essential reading for researchers and students in social sciences such as anthropology, sociology, marketing and consumer research, organization and management studies and cultural and media studies.

Author : Liz Przybylski
Publisher : SAGE Publications
ISBN 13 : 1544320310
Total Pages : 196 pages
Book Rating : 4.11/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Hybrid Ethnography written by Liz Przybylski and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2020-05-20 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today′s research landscape requires an updated set of analytical skills to tell the story of how people interact with and make meaning from contemporary culture. Hybrid Ethnography: Online, Offline, and In Between provides researchers with concrete and theory-based processes to combine online and offline research methods to tell the story of how and why people are interacting with expressive culture. This book provides a roadmap for combining online and in-person ethnographic research in an explicit manner to support the reality of much contemporary fieldwork. In the tradition of the Qualitative Research Methods series, this concise book serves graduate students and faculty learning ethnography and field methods, as well as those designing, conducting, and writing up their own dissertations and research studies. From choosing the pursue a hybrid ethnographic strategy to collecting data to analyzing and sharing results, author Liz Przybylski covers all aspects of conducting a hybrid ethnography study. Hybrid Ethnography was awarded Honorable Mention for the 2021 Bruno Nettle Prize given by the Society for Ethnomusicology!

Author : Tom Boellstorff
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781400899753
Total Pages : 258 pages
Book Rating : 4.53/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Ethnography and Virtual World written by Tom Boellstorff and published by . This book was released on with total page 258 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ethnography and Virtual Worlds is the only book of its kind--a concise, comprehensive, and practical guide for students, teachers, designers, and scholars interested in using ethnographic methods to study online virtual worlds, including both game and nongame environments.

Author : Tom Boellstorff
Publisher : Princeton University Press
ISBN 13 : 1400874106
Total Pages : 344 pages
Book Rating : 4.01/5 ( download)

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Download or read book Coming of Age in Second Life written by Tom Boellstorff and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2015-08-25 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Millions of people around the world today spend portions of their lives in online virtual worlds. Second Life is one of the largest of these virtual worlds. The residents of Second Life create communities, buy property and build homes, go to concerts, meet in bars, attend weddings and religious services, buy and sell virtual goods and services, find friendship, fall in love--the possibilities are endless, and all encountered through a computer screen. At the time of its initial publication in 2008, Coming of Age in Second Life was the first book of anthropology to examine this thriving alternate universe. Tom Boellstorff conducted more than two years of fieldwork in Second Life, living among and observing its residents in exactly the same way anthropologists traditionally have done to learn about cultures and social groups in the so-called real world. He conducted his research as the avatar "Tom Bukowski," and applied the rigorous methods of anthropology to study many facets of this new frontier of human life, including issues of gender, race, sex, money, conflict and antisocial behavior, the construction of place and time, and the interplay of self and group. Coming of Age in Second Life shows how virtual worlds can change ideas about identity and society. Bringing anthropology into territory never before studied, this book demonstrates that in some ways humans have always been virtual, and that virtual worlds in all their rich complexity build upon a human capacity for culture that is as old as humanity itself. Now with a new preface in which the author places his book in light of the most recent transformations in online culture, Coming of Age in Second Life remains the classic ethnography of virtual worlds.