Avatar watching: participant observation in graphical online environments

@article{Williams2007AvatarWP,
  title={Avatar watching: participant observation in graphical online environments},
  author={M. Williams},
  journal={Qualitative Research},
  year={2007},
  volume={7},
  pages={24 - 5}
}
  • M. Williams
  • Published 2007
  • Computer Science
  • Qualitative Research
Increasingly, social science researchers are turning to the internet to study forms of ‘virtual’ culture. In tandem there has been a degree of trepidation and innovation in the application of research methodology to the online arena. As its focus this article takes the application of participant observation to the virtual field. Drawing upon narratives elicited from community members of an online graphical social space, methodological questions are raised about the viability of a ‘virtual… Expand
View on SAGE
109 Citations
Highly Influential Citations
9
Background Citations
47
Methods Citations
10

109 Citations

Citation Type

Citation Type

Message Received: Virtual Ethnography in Online Message Boards
As the Internet begins to encapsulate more people within online communities, it is important that the social researcher have well-rounded ethnographic methodologies for observing these phenomena.… Expand
Researching Forums in Online Ethnography: Practice and Ethics
Abstract Purpose To examine the potential for including forums in an online ethnography that draws on data from multiple online sites. Methodology/approach Taking a broadly post-structuralist… Expand
The Teenage Expertise Network (TEN): an online ethnographic approach
The take-up of digital technology by young people is a well-known phenomenon and has been subject to socio-cultural analysis in areas such as youth studies and cultural studies. The Teenage Expertise… Expand
Ethnography goes online: towards a user-centred methodology to research interpersonal communication on the internet
Ethnographic research is increasingly concerned with how the internet operates within our everyday life. This article attempts to offer a methodological contribution of online communication and an… Expand
Observational practice in virtual worlds: revisiting and expanding the methodological discussion
Virtual worlds, such as World of Warcraft and Second Life, have seen remarkable mainstream uptake in the last decade. Such environments have grown from hosting niche interest groups to providing… Expand
Ethnography for the Internet: Embedded, Embodied and Everyday
TLDR
This book presents an overview of the challenges faced by ethnographers who wish to understand activities that involve the internet, and 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. Expand
Actors and Their Use of Avatars as Personal Mediators: An empirical study of avatar-based sense-makings and communication practices in the virtual worlds of EverQuest and Second Life
Over the past five years, millions of actors have found it meaningful to move in and settle down in the Metaverse, for example, as an adventurous shaman in an advanced role-playing game such as… Expand
Virtual Social Identity and Consumer Behavior
The creation and expression of identity (or of multiple identities) in immersive computer-mediated environments (CMEs) is rapidly transforming consumer behavior. The various social networking and… Expand
The Protagonist and Their Avatar: Learner Characteristics in a Culture of Simulation
TLDR
Findings from the current study show statistically different personality score for individuals and their avatars across all domains of the Five-Factor Model, however, for three of the domains, Neuroticism, Openness, and Conscientiousness, consistent patterns of difference existed. Expand
Teachers' embodied presence in online teaching practices
This study aims to examine teachers' embodiments online. The analysis is based on online ethnographic data from two online courses in higher education settings using different information and… Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...

References

SHOWING 1-10 OF 60 REFERENCES
Researching online populations: the use of online focus groups for social research
The survivability of ‘traditional’ methods within computer-mediated settings is dependent upon their capacity to be utilized and adapted to the technology that mediates human interaction online. This… Expand
Life Online: Researching Real Experience in Virtual Space
TLDR
While cyberspace is hyped as a disembodied cultural arena where physical reality can be transcended, Annette N. Markham finds that to understand how people experience the Internet, she must learn how to be embodied there--a process of acculturation and immersion which is not so different from other anthropological projects of cross-cultural understanding. Expand
Internet Communication and Qualitative Research
TLDR
Internet Communication and Qualitative Research addresses the social and cultural impact of researching online through a discussion of power, gender, and identity issues in the virtual world and is an indispensable guide for all students and researchers working in the digital age. Expand
Cyber-Mothers: Online Synchronous Interviewing using Conferencing Software
TLDR
It is concluded that the use of conferencing software holds great potential for synchronous online interviewing, but this must be combined with sensitive, ethical handling of both the research process and the data to overcome both the weaknesses of this particular method and those inherent in any interviewing situation. Expand
Getting the Seats of Your Pants Dirty: Strategies for Ethnographic Research on Virtual Communities
  • L. Paccagnella
  • Sociology, Computer Science
  • J. Comput. Mediat. Commun.
  • 1997
TLDR
The article summarizes a case study on an Italian computer conference, and concludes with a short outline of the new graphical CMC environments and their consequences for the rise of a multimedia cyber-anthropology. Expand
Tracing the Everyday 'Sitings' of Adolescents on the Internet: a strategic adaptation of ethnography across online and offline spaces
This article argues for the need to move beyond place-based ethnography and develop ethnographic methodologies that follow the moving, traveling practices of adolescents online and offline. In the… Expand
The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach
This pathbreaking book is the first to provide a rigorous and comprehensive examination of Internet culture and consumption. A rich ethnography of Internet use, the book offers a sustained account… Expand
At the Heart of It All: The Concept of Presence
A number of emerging technologies including virtual reality, simulation rides, video conferencing, home theater, and high definition television are designed to provide media users with an illusion… Expand
Online social research : methods, issues & ethics
Online Social Research: Methods, Issues, and Ethics is a collection of essays by veteran online researchers who provide testimonial illustrations as to how traditional research methods may be… Expand
Virtual Ethnography
Current approaches in the ethnographic study of the Internet are diverse; the proliferation of proposals has been numerous in recent years. The methodological approach of virtual ethnography has been… Expand
...
1
2
3
4
5
...