Shall WeChat? Switching between online and offline ethnography

Drawing on the ethnographic work conducted inside the digital platform WeChat, this article contributes to the ongoing discussion about the multi-sited ethnographic tools and the digital methods available for investigating virtual worlds and online practices. It analyses the communications, interactions, sociality, and economic activities produced on the application WeChat by Chinese migrant women, together with the same practices constructed offline in Taiwan. Taking a close look at the offline context from which these digital practices are generated, the article shows that when studying online practices, it is essential to understand what corresponds to them in the offline worlds. By updating the four Goffmanian interactionist fieldwork sequences, this research provides some reflections on the necessity to mix and merge online and offline ethnographic techniques in order to apprehend the new practices and scales of interaction at the crossroads where online and offline social spaces intersect. Virtual ethnography cannot be exclusive. Rather, it needs to be designed and performed in dialogue with ‘physical’ observations.

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Learning through social spaces: migrant women and lifelong learning in post‐colonial London

International Journal of Lifelong Education ◽

10.1080/02601371003616657 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 237-253 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Sue Jackson

Keyword(s):

Lifelong Learning ◽

Migrant Women ◽

Social Spaces ◽

Post Colonial

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Etnografie in de virtuele wereld

KWALON ◽

10.5117/2015.020.002.012 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Harald Warmelink ◽

Joost Beuving ◽

Fred Wester

Keyword(s):

Virtual Worlds ◽

Virtual World ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Ethnographic Study ◽

The Internet ◽

Virtual Ethnography ◽

Scarce Resources ◽

Organization Science

Ethnography in the virtual world: a methodological struggle (with introduction and debate) Ethnography in the virtual world: a methodological struggle (with introduction and debate) The author discusses problems in the ethnographic study of online, virtual worlds through a presentation of his research of the internet game EVE Online. It attracts many millions of players worldwide, who navigate in a sciencefiction type of environment in which they compete for dominant positions and scarce resources. The author problematizes three aspects of EVE, that are relevant for discussions of ethnography in online, virtual worlds: (1) the place of interaction, (2) the design of the game, and (3) access to the EVE corporations: organisational units in which players collaborate. Based on this, the author advocates a novel methodological approach in the study of online, virtual worlds, which he terms ‘virtual-organisational ethnography’. It combines elements of organization science and Christine Hine’s virtual ethnography, and that presents a step away from classical ethnography. Fred Wester and Joost Beuving present a reply to the article, and the author responds to this.

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Coding Control: Governance and Contingency in the Production of Online Worlds

First Monday ◽

10.5210/fm.v0i0.1613 ◽

2006 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Thomas M. Malaby

Keyword(s):

Social Relations ◽

Virtual Worlds ◽

Social Action ◽

Second Life ◽

Computer Game ◽

Ethnographic Research ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Central Concept ◽

Coding Control ◽

Ultimate Control

Approximately 11 million people worldwide regularly participate in persistent, graphically–realized, online virtual worlds (including EverQuest, Ultima Online, Second Life, and Lineage). Originally built on computer game platforms, these worlds are in many respects the most viable online arenas for broad–based social action; their participants pursue lasting social relations as well as globally consequential economic activities that elide the boundary between offline and online experience. Amidst this startling growth it is the producers of these worlds who are confronting in practical terms unprecedented challenges of governing what are in many cases fundamentally open–ended, yet architected, environments. How are they doing this, and in particular how are they developing their own position as those theoretically (if not effectively) in ultimate control? This article, based on ethnographic research at Linden Lab, the makers of Second Life, considers this question with respect to competing and continually changing ideas of Second Life’s content, a particularly unruly yet central concept in this virtual world’s ongoing governance.

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Economic Activities of Migrants in Transnational Social Spaces

Minorities in European Cities ◽

10.1007/978-1-349-62841-4_2 ◽

2000 ◽

pp. 11-25 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Thomas Faist

Keyword(s):

Social Spaces ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Transnational Social Spaces

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The eHealth Arena and Online Virtual Worlds

International Journal of Gaming and Computer-Mediated Simulations ◽

10.4018/jgcms.2013070103 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 5 (3) ◽

pp. 27-42

Author(s):

Jacquelyn Ford Morie ◽

Eric Chance

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Virtual Worlds ◽

Future Research ◽

The Internet ◽

Social Spaces ◽

The Future ◽

Recent Addition ◽

The Way

Virtual Worlds, a recent addition to Internet offerings, are connected social spaces that have geographies and are populated by people using avatar representations. These spaces hold a great deal of promise as part of a future portfolio of eHealth offerings. Utilizing virtual worlds, health care can be widely distributed and accessible via the Internet. They have particular affordances that lend themselves to achieving and supporting many types of health care. This paper describes some of the current applications that use virtual worlds as part of eHealth care, as well as future research that will factor into the way these activities develop. These examples are paving the way for virtual worlds to be part of the way people access health care in the future.

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Supporting financial controlling at the university: Accounting information

International Accounting ◽

10.24891/ia.24.6.684 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 22 (6) ◽

pp. 684-696

Author(s):

Elena A. TITOVA

Keyword(s):

Higher Education ◽

Management Accounting ◽

Higher Education Institutions ◽

Accounting Information ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Information Base ◽

Digital Platform ◽

Methods Of Analysis ◽

Different Types ◽

The University

Subject. This article assesses the existing accounting information from the position of its relevance when forming indicators of financial controlling of the university. Objectives. The article aims to develop accounting support for financial controlling at universities based on a study of the used approaches to the presentation of its information base. Methods. For the study, I used the methods of analysis, comparison, and generalization. Results. The article presents proposals for the development of the information base of financial controlling of universities. It summarizes the approaches to the presentation of the information base of financial controlling contained in the scientific works of domestic and foreign authors and assesses the possibilities of using the types of accounting information of universities to form different types of indicators and parameters of their financial and economic activities, corresponding to the characteristics of financial controlling. Conclusions. There are different approaches to presenting the structure of the information base of financial controlling. The development of higher education institutions' accounting information to ensure financial controlling consists in the development of a system of elements of different types of reporting (management, accounting, statistical, integrated, strategic) and the use of digital platform solutions.

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Factors Related to Childbirth Intention of Migrant Women in Multicultural Marriages in Korea

Iranian Journal of Public Health ◽

10.18502/ijph.v49i8.3888 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Jae-Joon LEE ◽

Chang-Hyun KANG

Keyword(s):

Life Satisfaction ◽

Economic Activity ◽

Family Formation ◽

Marital Relationship ◽

The Philippines ◽

Influential Factors ◽

Contradictory Result ◽

Migrant Women ◽

Economic Activities ◽

Korean Society

Background: We aimed to identify factors related to childbirth intention in multicultural marriage migrant women in Korea. The study was based on the raw data of a National Survey on Multicultural Families 2015 in Korea, covering 7 countries and 31,047 participants. Methods: Data were analyzed with multiple regression analysis using SPSS and WIN 21.0 programs. Results: First, the consistent outcome in the seven countries was Residence period in Korea. The shorter the period of residence in Korea and the lower the age, the higher childbirth intentions. Second, the major factors according to country were Economic Activity, Satisfaction of Marital Relationship, Life Satisfaction, and Education. The most influential factors in each country were economic activity in Taiwan and Hong Kong, satisfaction with marital relationships in Korean-China, life satisfaction in Cambodia, and education in Mongolia and the Philippines. The higher the participation in economic activities, satisfaction with marital relationship, life satisfaction, and education level, the greater the number of childbirth intentions. Third, a contradictory result was found in State of health. In Vietnam, better health predicted greater numbers of childbirth intentions, while in China, Korean-Chinese, Mongolia, Cambodia, worse health predicated greater numbers of childbirth intentions. Conclusion: The findings suggest a need for a comprehensive multicultural policy and support services for multicultural marriage migrant women that considers characteristics such as country, cultural differences, and nationality in order to contribute to family formation and settlement of Korean society.

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