TEACHING ONLINE PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION

Abstract

Recognizing the growing usage of digital ethnography in sociology, this assignment provides a hands-on assignment for teaching online participant-observation theory and practice. What differentiates digital ethnography from ethnography is that researchers collect data through online interactions, rather than through in-person, face-to-face interactions...

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Details

Subject Area(s):

Qualitative Methodology

Resource Type(s):

Assignment

Class Level(s):

Any Level

Class Size(s):

Any

Usage Notes

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1. This assignment is designed to be used in undergraduate or graduate research methods courses, as an alternative to traditional face-to-face participant-observation assignments or to supplement them.
2. This assignment could be adapted for other courses as needed, but assumes students have...

Learning Goals and Assessments

Learning Goal(s):

1. Goal 1: Students will learn how to effectively conduct participant-observation in a virtual space.
2. Goal 2: Students will learn how to effectively code and conduct preliminary analysis of online participant observation data.
3. Goal 3: Students will learn how to write-up preliminary findings and reflect on the process of doing online participant-observation.

Goal Assessment(s):

1. Assessment 1: Students will identify a virtual space (blog, Facebook or LinkedIn community, Twitter feed, etc.) and conduct a two-hour participant-observation of that space.
2. Assessment 2: Students will code online participant observation data that they have collected using an open coding method.
3. Assessment 3: Students will prepare a short summary of their research process and preliminary findings (if any).