Digital Ethnography in Cybercrime Research: Some Notes from the Virtual Field

Gibbs, Nicholas and Hall, Alexandra (2021) Digital Ethnography in Cybercrime Research: Some Notes from the Virtual Field. In: Researching Cybercrimes: Methodologies, Ethics, and Critical Approaches. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham, pp. 283-299. ISBN 9783030748364, 9783030748371

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Abstract

Ethnographers must now confront the multi-sited, digital and mobile nature of social, cultural and economic life. As a result, the use of digital ethnography, traditional ethnographic methods modified to interact with online communities and environments, has steadily increased in anthropology and the social sciences. Criminologists are beginning to make use of the approach in response to the increasing need to account for the complex digital features of contemporary forms of criminality, victimization, policing and punishment. In this chapter, we outline some selected details of our experiences as ethnographers conducting criminological research in virtual worlds. We cover key issues that range from practical challenges and ethical quandaries through analytical capabilities to epistemological issues in the hope our reflections go some way in helping budding digital ethnographers in criminology.

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