Med nätet som fält

Urvalstankar, känslostormar och etikproblem

Abstract

Writing ethnography involves retelling a story and carrying the voices of others in order to describe and explain a cultural phenomenon. This article argues that the ethnographer cannot write in such a close manner without great difficulties when today's search engines operade with unprecedented vigour. Tracing a text string using Google takes less than a second and this has great implications for the ability to provide quotations if the researcher is to follow ethical guidelines to protect and to keep their informants anonymous. Further, this article discusses ethical implications involved in online studies of blogs where the content is of a sensitive and private nature. To undertake such research while showing respect for the informant is a challenging task, given the researcher's need to adhere to the key issues in research ethics. This article specifically problematizes the ethics of informed consent and confidentiality as it provides a particular challenge for the researcher engaged in studies of affective online sharing.