Ethnography and Virtual World - A Comprehensive Guide

Running head: ETHNOGRAPHY AND VIRTUAL WORLD
ETHNOGRAPHY AND VIRTUAL WORLD
Name of the Student
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Author’s note

1
ETHNOGRAPHY AND VIRTUAL WORLD
ETHNOGRAPHY AND THE STUDY OF VIRTUAL WORLD
Ethnography and the virtual world provide a concise and a comprehensive guide for the
students who are interested for studying the online virtual worlds for the game and the non game
environments (Caliandro, 2014). Although it can be tempting to depend on the quantitative and
the qualitative methodologies for studying the online gaming system as detailed information can
be brought about the devices they use or how long they play. However there is more to a group
of human beings than a statistical data can tell. Chapter three of this book has exclusively
discussed about the 10 myths related to ethnography (Boellstorff et al. 2012). Students working
on the ethnographic study might have confusion about ethnographic researches as it deviates
from the conventional qualitative, science based researches that were normally taught in schools.
The chapter has pointed out some of the associated myths like lack of scientific base, lacking
validity as quantitative researches, anecdotal characteristics, intuitive, is mainly based on self
reported experience and is always undermined by the subjectivity and that the ethnographers
contaminate the site by their presence, ethnography and grounded theory is same, ethnography
and ethno-methodology are similar and that ethnography will become obsolete.
The chapter 4 of this book have described about the different research design and
preparation for the ethnographic study. This chapter shared anecdotes from the own experiences
of the author studying about online worlds and showcasing the challenges of conducting research
in the gaming world. Chapter 5 deals with participants’ observation in virtual world. These
chapters provided suitable information about how the participants are monitored in the virtual
world and what they admit about what they can do from the interviews. It provides with an