Virtual/visual ethnography: methodological crossroads at the intersection of visual and internet research - E. Ardévol (2012)

Extract

[...] - The method is therefore seen as important in that it enables us to build a relationship with our respondents through communication interfaces. Which advantages and disadvantages of using this method have you recognized while you were reading this paper? - As far as the advantages are concerned, the first remains that of creating the conditions of anonymity for future interviewees in the context of ethnographic research, particularly thanks to quantitative surveys using digital questionnaires. - Visual ethnography is thus enriched by the use of the Internet and new Internet technologies. [...]

[...] Virtual/visual ethnography: methodological crossroads at the intersection of visual and internet research - E. Ardévol (2012) Presentation : Text : Ardévol, E. (2012). Virtual/visual ethnography: methodological crossroads at the intersection of visual and internet research. In: Pink, S. Advances in visual methodology. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, 74-94. Introduction to the text/presentation - The text by E. Ardévol (2012) sets out to show the interest of a so-called modern method for conducting ethnographic fieldwork, namely the use of the internet and new digital technologies. [...]

[...] - This contribution allows us to reflect on the ethnographic experience, with its relationship to reality, the virtual, objectivity and subjectivity. - Confronting new technologies means confronting new epistemological problems for the researcher: it means having to account for a new relationship with locality, exoticism and another way of appreciating reality. Conclusion - E. Ardévol's text is interesting in that it broadens the researcher's options when it comes to compiling data. But it also allows us to reflect on the advantages and limitations of such a method. [...]

[...] - As far as the disadvantages are concerned, the first remains the fact that the expansion of so-called mass visual production has favoured more or less defined roles for those who receive information and those who produce it. - The context in which images and visual content are produced can be complex to define. The circulation of images (particularly on social networks) sometimes makes it difficult to source content. - The use of cameras in the field transforms the field 'into a spectacle' and radically changes the field experience for the researcher. - Visual and digital technologies can interfere with the researcher's work. Where do you see the author's contribution to the science? [...]

[...] - The method has also been used to assess the relationship between 'online' and 'offline'. - Not forgetting the fact that it was possible to consider empirically the social context that enables a digital encounter. Here between an ethnologist and a subject. What the author(s) tells us about the method and how? - As the method is new to the field of ethnography and the social sciences more generally, it is interesting to understand through this contribution how the Internet and digital technologies have become a research tool in their own right for carrying out studies, in the same way as participant observation in the field. [...]