| Virtual Ethnography |
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Virtual ethnography attempts to maintain the values of traditional ethnography through providing a "thick" description through the "immersion" of the researcher in the lives of their subjects. This focus on the subject makes virtual ethnography quite distinct from Web Usage Mining or Social Network Analysis , although it may use similar techniques to identify or map networks. The key question for virtual ethnography researcher is "how can ethnography be pursued in technologically mediated settings"? Researchers have attempted to create virtual counterparts for many of the basic ethnographic concepts but whether they can appropriately be applied to technologically mediated interaction is still open (Howard, 2003). For example, if a researcher simply reads some emails or participates in chatrooms, does this represent an Ethnography : can the researcher still be said to have immersed themselves in the life of the community? SEE ALSO REFERENCES
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