Semantic Social Networks: A Mixed Methods Approach to Digital Ethnography

We propose a mixed methods approach to digital ethnographic research. Treating online conversational environments as communities that ethnographers engage with as in traditional fieldwork, we represent those conversations and the codes made by researchers thereon in network form. We call these netwo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Field methods 2020-08, Vol.32 (3), p.274-290
Main Authors: Cottica, Alberto, Hassoun, Amelia, Manca, Marco, Vallet, Jason, Melançon, Guy
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Computer Mediated Communication
Computer Science
Conversation
Ethnography
Health Services
Intelligence
Internet
Interpersonal Relationship
Mixed Methods Research
Research methodology
Semantics
Social and Information Networks
Social interaction
Social Networks
Social Services
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Summary:We propose a mixed methods approach to digital ethnographic research. Treating online conversational environments as communities that ethnographers engage with as in traditional fieldwork, we represent those conversations and the codes made by researchers thereon in network form. We call these networks “semantic social networks” (SSNs), as they incorporate information on social interaction and their meaning as perceived by informants as a group and use methods from network science to visualize these ethnographic data. We present an application of this method to a large online conversation about community provision of health and social care and discuss its potential for mobilizing collective intelligence.
ISSN:1525-822X
1552-3969
DOI:10.1177/1525822X20908236