Avatar watching: participant observation in graphical online environments

@article{Williams2007AvatarWP,
  title={Avatar watching: participant observation in graphical online environments},
  author={Matthew Leighton Williams},
  journal={Qualitative Research},
  year={2007},
  volume={7},
  pages={24 - 5}
}
  • M. Williams
  • Published 1 February 2007
  • Sociology
  • 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… 
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