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Hybrid Ethnography
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Today's research landscape requires an updated set of analytical skills to tell the story of how people interact with and make meaning from contemporary culture. Hybrid Ethnography: Online, Offline, and In Between provides researchers with concrete and theory-based processes to combine online and offline research methods to tell the story of how and why people are interacting with expressive culture. This book provides a roadmap for combining online and in-person ethnographic research in an explicit manner to support the reality of much contemporary fieldwork. In the tradition of the Qualitative Research Methods series, this concise book serves graduate students and faculty learning ethnography and field methods, as well as those designing, conducting, and writing up their own dissertations and research studies. From choosing the pursue a hybrid ethnographic strategy to collecting data to analyzing and sharing results, author Liz Przybylski covers all aspects of conducting a hybrid ethnography study.


Hybrid Ethnography was awarded Honorable Mention for the 2021 Bruno Nettle Prize given by the Society for Ethnomusicology!


 
Preface
 
Acknowledgments
 
Author Bio
 
Chapter 1: Introduction to Hybrid Ethnography
Overview

 
Hybrid Ethnography: Theoretical and Practical Shifts

 
What You Need to Begin

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 2: Ethics
IRBs, Ethics Boards, and Research Design

 
Personal and Professional Ethics

 
Concerns for Partially Online Fieldsites

 
Positionality

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 3: Grounding: Research Reflexivity and Connectivity
Researcher and Field

 
Coordinating Hybrid Fieldwork: Pre-Field Research Design

 
Navigating the Online Portion of Your Fieldsite

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 4: Collecting and Organizing Your Data
Context

 
Field Log

 
Participation and Documentation in the Hybrid Field

 
Online Interactions in the Hybrid Field

 
Data Collection and Management

 
Notetaking

 
Writing Up After Participant Observation

 
Data Organization Tools

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 5: Participation, Observation, and Interpretation
Initial Interpretation Across the Hybrid Site

 
Language and Participant Observation

 
Making Sense of Hypertext and Multimedia Texts

 
Mapping the Relationships That Make Your Scene

 
Expectations for Hybrid Collaboration

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 6: Photography and Recordings in the Hybrid Field
Documentation in the Hybrid Field

 
Recording Strategies

 
Dialogic Photography, Videography, and Audio Recording

 
Documentation of Media by Other Participants

 
Ethics of Documentation in the Hybrid Field

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 7: Interviews and Surveys
Choosing a Medium

 
Ethics for Hybrid Research Surveys and Interviews

 
Preparing Interviews and Surveys

 
Logistical Concerns

 
Conducting Surveys

 
Interviews and Surveys Together in a Research Context

 
Conducting Interviews

 
After the Interview

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 8: Hybrid Fieldwork Analysis
Analyzing Information From Fieldwork

 
Integrating Information Specific to Expressive Culture

 
Dialogue

 
Analysis: A Fieldwork Example

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 9: Sharing Research Results
Publication and Participant Privacy

 
Deciding How and What to Share

 
Writing

 
Media

 
Other Formats for Sharing

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Chapter 10: Conclusion: Remaining Nimble in the Changing Field
Changes in Tools

 
A Note About Consistency

 
Theorizing Change

 
Summary

 
Further Reading

 
 
Bibliography
 
Index

This textbook fits well with the learning objectives and assignments in my Research Seminar that I am currently teaching online in asynchronous modality (due to the COVID-19 pandemic).

Dr Viera Lorencova
Accounting, Fitchburg State University
March 26, 2021
Key features
  • This innovative text provides theoretical justifications and practical roadmap for combining online and offline ethnographic methods.
  • Covers the entire research process from initiating your project to collecting data, to analysis and sharing your results.
  • A chapter on ethics provides information on Institutional Review Boards and research practicalities as well as exercises around positionality and a framework for ethics as addressed in each further chapter.
  • Writing exercises provide students with a thoughtful way to engage with the text.
  • Extensive references to primary sources provide readers with a rich background on various applications and theories behind the recommendations in the text.

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 1

Chapter 2


This title is also available on SAGE Research Methods, the ultimate digital methods library. If your library doesn’t have access, ask your librarian to start a trial.