10.6092/issn.2038-3460/17217
application/pdf
2038-3460
17217
2
en
Giacomo Poderi
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/
Tecnoscienza – Italian Journal of Science & Technology Studies
Tom Boellstorff, Bonnie Nardi, Celia Pearce and T.L. Taylor, Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: A Handbook of Method, Princeton University Press, 2012
Text.Serial.Journal
https://tecnoscienza.unibo.it/
5
Book Reviews
2015-01-29
2023-06-14
2015-01-29
2023-07-27
103-106
TS
Giacomo Poderi
2014
10.6092/issn.2038-3460/17217
103
University of Trento
2038-3460
2
en
106
Tom Boellstorff, Bonnie Nardi, Celia Pearce and T.L. Taylor, Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: A Handbook of Method, Princeton University Press, 2012
https://tecnoscienza.unibo.it/article/download/17217/16096
5
Book Review                                                             103
tion. For this reason, this book shows a renewed methodological option
that STS should take into careful consideration: the genealogical perspec-
tive.
     While contemplating a genealogical approach and a particular sensi-
tivity to the social dimensions of science and technology, this book also
stresses the importance of complementing a processual and contingent
analysis of the production and sharing of scientific knowledge (typical of
ethnographies) with a diachronic dimension. This would allow to account
in an articulated way for the historical dimension of how different geneal-
ogies of actants converge, diverge and rearrange, creating a technoscien-
tific balance, as precarious as it may be.

References
Clarke, A. E., Mamo, L., Fishman, J. R., Shim, J. K. and Fosket, J. R. (ed.)
      (2010) Biomedicalization. Technoscience, Health, and Illness in the
      U.S., Durham, NC, Duke University Press.
Foucault, M. (1963) Naissance de la clinique. Une archéologie du regard
      medical, Paris, Presses Universitaires de France.
Hacking, I. (1992a) The Self-Vindication of the Laboratory Sciences, in A.
      Pickering (eds.) Science as Practice and Culture, Chicago, The Uni-
      versity of Chicago Press, pp. 29-64.
Hacking, I. (1992b) Statistical Language, Statistical Truth, and Statistical
      Reason: The Self-Authentication of a Style of Scientific Reasoning, in
      E. McMullin (ed.) The Social Dimension of Science, Notre Dame,
      University of Notre Dame Press, pp. 130-157.
Keating, P. and Cambrosio, A. (2007) Cancer Clinical Trials: The Emer-
      gence and Development of a New Style of Practice, in “Bulletin of
      the History of Medicine”, 81 (1), pp. 197-223.
M’charek, A. (2005) The Human Genome Diversity Project: An Ethnogra-
      phy of Scientific Practice, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.



                                   ***


    Tom Boellstorff, Bonnie Nardi, Celia Pearce and T.L.
    Taylor
Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: A Handbook of Method
Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2012, pp. 237

Giacomo Poderi University of Trento
104                                                         Tecnoscienza – 5 (2)


    As the title clearly anticipates, the book offers, in the form of a meth-
odological handbook, a sound reflection on the use of the ethnographic
approach in/for virtual worlds research.
    The handbook arrives in a time in which, on the one hand, ethnogra-
phy-based research are increasingly spreading through and contaminating
with fields other than the traditional ones of anthropology and sociology
(such as new media and communication studies, ergonomics, design,
HCI, CSCW). On the other hand, research on virtual worlds has contin-
uously proliferated in the last decade and showed a growing affinity with
qualitative research design and ethnography, in particular. The four au-
thors' effort is praiseworthy and the result of their work a valuable one,
precisely, because in times of methodological appropriation and discipli-
nary contamination, the re-assessment and the update of what it means to
do ethnographic research in/on virtual worlds were sorely missing. Fur-
thermore, the many years of experience that Boellstorff, Nardi, Pearce
and Taylor share over the handbook topics shine throughout the book
making it a sound and authoritative source.
    Authors' commitment to a clear definition of “virtual world” as “ob-
ject” and “field” of research is a remarkable aspect of the handbook, as
well as it is their attempt to maintain clarity between what constitutes vir-
tual world research and what not. Indeed, for instance, they clarify more
than once, throughout the book, that games with multi-player capabili-
ties, online communities and most networked environments that are usu-
ally studied nowadays are not virtual worlds. Virtual worlds “are places
and have a sense of worldness. They are not just space representation, but
they have object-rich environments with which is possible to interact.
[…] They are multi-users in nature. They exist as shared social environ-
ments with synchronous communication and interaction. […] They are
persistent and continue to exist even when participants log off. […] virtu-
al worlds allow participants to embody themselves, usually as avatars” (p.
7; original emphasis). Furthermore, in my opinion, the fulfillment of the
handbook's main goal – “to provide ethnographers with a practical set of
tools and approaches for conducting successful fieldwork in virtual
worlds” (p. 1) – is successfully pursued through the handbook's sough-
after design as a manuscript that (i) is concise and agile: to be held in one
hand, in opposition to most handbooks; (ii) is compact and practical ref-
erence guide: not just to be studied, but to be carried and used while do-
ing ethnography; and (iii) identifies with the greatest possible precision
the key tenets of ethnographic research (p. 7-9).
    In compliance with the principle of a lightweight and agile instrument,
the handbook is composed of twelve, relatively brief, chapters each one
addressing a key aspect of ethnographic research. The book is not divided
into parts, but it is easy to identify the macro areas covered by the chap-
ters.
    The first two chapters (“Why this handbook; Three brief histories”)
Book Review                                                               105
deal with the framing of ethnography as a method for researching virtual
worlds. In this initial part, the authors provide an explanation of the ra-
tionale behind the handbook and a recount of the emerging research
trends on virtual worlds and methods. Chapters three and four (“Ten
myths about ethnography; Research design and preparation”) justify the
choice of method and its place in the research design. This part proceeds
by explaining how the choice of an ethnographic approach can be
grounded against the typical objections that researchers could face in this
regard and how such choice can be seamlessly integrated into a sound re-
search design.
    If a core of the handbook shall be found then, in my opinion, it is in
chapters five, six and seven (“Participant observation in virtual worlds”;
“Interviews and virtual worlds research”; “Other data collection methods
for virtual worlds research”), which tackle in depth the key ethnographic
tenets of data gathering: participant observation, interviewing, and the
use of virtual worlds specific data (e.g. screenshots, chatlogs, audio, virtu-
al artifacts). The authors give incisive explanations about the meaning of
participating in/for the fieldwork and about the establishment and upkeep
of fulfilling relationships with the informants. More importantly, they
clarify the differences and the similarities for (participant) observation
and interviewing as conducted in virtual worlds research and physical
worlds ones. The eighth and ninth chapter (“Ethics”; “Human subjects
clearance and institutional review boards”) enter into the details of re-
search ethics, both in terms of principles and practical matters. Chapters
ten and eleven (“Data Analysis”; “Writing up, presenting and publishing
ethnographic research”) deal with the challenge of analyzing and present-
ing the data within the frame of ethnographic research. In this part, they
are particularly helpful the practical tips over the drafting of the research
results through different ethnographic genres, as well as the considera-
tions over the styles and the target venues for submitting research out-
puts. The last chapter (“Conclusion: arrivals and new departures”) is a
small, conclusive reflection on the rationale of the handbook's design and
the authors' expectations over its usefulness and outreach. Finally, as an
overall framework, the handbook also includes: an initial “Foreword” by
George Marcus, a very rich “References” section and an “Index” one.
    The critical remarks to address to the handbook are very few in my
opinion. An issue worth mentioning is that, despite being a methodologi-
cal book, it includes no examples of the practical application of the tech-
niques that are introduces and explained in general terms. For instance,
the sections “Taking extensive fieldnotes” (p. 82) or “Keeping data orga-
nized” (p. 85) discuss very well the tenets and principles of fieldnotes tak-
ing and of their coherent organization, but the book provides no fieldnote
excerpt neither an organization scheme for the data as examples. Similar-
ly, when explaining the use of chatlogs and screenshots as data, no exam-
ples of how to use, organize or subsequently analyze this kind of data are
provided. Another, minor, issue I feel to highlight relates to the choice of
106                                                          Tecnoscienza – 5 (2)

keeping the book light while covering a large spectrum of methodological
topics which, of course, come at the detriment of the depth of analysis for
each topic or sub-topic. As this is an explicit choice made by the authors
it can be hardly criticized, also because it is well pursued. However, cer-
tain chapters really make the reader wish the authors had dwelled deeper
into the matter. A clear example is in chapter five where the handbook
touches on a sub-topic such as “Making Mistakes” (p. 79-82). From the
practical point of view of doing ethnography this is a very interesting
theme, but it is treated for no longer than a couple of pages. The same
issue goes for chapter seven, where the use of different data types and
gathering techniques that are specific to virtual worlds research are men-
tioned, but not fully treated. Truth be told, to cushion both of the issues
mentioned here, the authors often provide an account of how they tack-
led the specific topic at hand in their own respective research works,
which is a very interesting and pleasant way to establish affinity with the
reader, or provide references to specific literature that allowing those who
would be interested in, to dwell deeper into the topics.
     About the style of the handbook, I certainly appreciated its narrative
and fluid tone that manages to establish a direct and somewhat informal
conversation with the target audience. Statements, key arguments and ex-
amples are clear and never convoluted. Furthermore, the use of virtual
worlds' jargon and of theory-laden terminology is kept to the minimum,
which makes the book easily accessible for researchers who are starting to
approach either the methodology or the field of virtual worlds. A few
words shall be spent also about the audience the book is addressed to.
Indeed, I believe that, regardless of the fact that the authors' explicit in-
tent was to provide a useful instrument for graduate students and early
stage researchers who are not necessarily acquainted with the handbook's
subject matters, “Ethnography and Virtual Worlds: A Handbook of
Method” can be useful for more experienced ethnographers too. The
main reason for this is that the handbook itself grew out from the au-
thors' direct experiences and challenges with ethnographic research and
it is the result of an ongoing conversation among the authors about such
challenges. Therefore, despite being written in a simple, accessible and
lightweight way, it certainly touches the key methodological issues that
any researcher entering this field will have to face, regardless of his or her
experience.
     One final aspect I want to raise in this closing sentence may be of in-
terest for some STS scholars. Indeed, I believe that through its design, its
style, the scope of its arguments and the framing of its specific elements,
the handbook manages to make looking as outdated the whole set of
methodological and epistemological challenges that were raised by the
study of the computer-mediated, the second self, the online and the virtu-
al during the past two decades. These past great challenges appear here as
“normal” and integrated elements that are common to any research jour-
ney, ethnographic or not, striving for discovering a world, virtual or not.
