Clues for the Paradigmatic Development of Online Qualitative Methods

ABSTRACT Objective: in this paper, we problematize how online methods were reduced to mere adaptations from previous data collection techniques, and then discuss how some of the idiosyncratic properties of the online scope may drive the development of future, paradigmatic, online qualitative methods. Proposition: we identified five clues for the paradigmatic development of online qualitative methods: (1) the new socialities allowed by online interactions; (2) the processes involved in asserting identities and selves online; (3) the increasing difficulty in distinguishing what is private and what is public online, and what does privacy mean in this context; (4) the increase of participants’ agency in online qualitative research; and (5) the declining distinction between offline and online social phenomena. Conclusion: by using ontological and epistemological assumptions that do not consider the specificities of online experiences, and by focusing excessively on adapting known methods to the new settings, we researchers are bound to conceive the online experience and operate in it using offline categories. This way, we might be missing the opportunity to develop native, paradigmatic, online qualitative methods that, ultimately, would allow for a better understanding of the phenomena we investigate.

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Melo,Newton Claizoni Moreno de, Dourado,Débora Coutinho Paschoal
Format: Digital revista
Language:English
Published: Associação Nacional de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa em Administração 2022
Online Access:http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1415-65552022000401203
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