EAGER: Extreme Ethnography: When Content and Tools Change Continually on Vast Scales, How Must Our Research Methods Change

在分布式在线空间的新时代，仅在本地服务器和存储站点上查看人类行为不再足够。从浏览在线视频到使用关键字搜索界面搜索广阔的信息空间，信息的范围和社会影响发生了变化。因此，随着研究环境的变化，人机界面研究人员需要新的策略来研究、回应和适应不断变化的环境。社会网络分析(SNA)和调查等定量方法是解决某些类型在线社交空间中的一些研究问题的合适技术，但它们有局限性。对于一些研究，定性方法，特别是应用人种学，可能是深入理解用户在网络社交数字生态中的行为、意图和感受的唯一途径。这项研究的目的是考察研究人员在试图使用人种学方法理解大型在线空间中的不同类型行为时遇到的问题。为了实现这一目标，我们将进行一项分两个阶段的研究。第一阶段将对YouTube、Facebook、Twitter、维基百科和其他大型社交系统以及关键字搜索界面上的当前研究文献进行元分析，以确定研究人员在什么假设下使用的方法，以及这些研究报告了哪些结果。第二阶段将产生一个扎根的理论分析的案例研究如何人机界面的研究样本进行定性研究，特别是民族志，在这些巨大的和不断变化的信息空间。

In the new era of distributed online spaces it is no longer sufficient to look at human behavior just on local servers and storage sites. From exploring on-line videos to searching vast information spaces with keyword search interfaces, the information scope and societal impact have changed. HCI researchers therefore need new strategies to study, respond, and adapt to changing circumstances as the context for research changes. Quantitative methods such as social network analysis (SNA) and surveys are appropriate techniques for addressing some research questions in some types of online social spaces, but they have limitations. For some studies, qualitative methods, specifically applied ethnography, may offer the only way to deeply understand users' behavior, intentions and feelings within the social-digital ecology of the Web. The goal of this research is to examine the issues that researchers encounter when attempting to understand diverse types of behavior in large online spaces using ethnographic approaches. To accomplish we will conduct a two-stage study. Stage 1 will produce a meta-analysis of current research literature on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Wikipedia and other large-scale social systems, and on keyword search interfaces, to identify the methods that were used by researchers, under what assumptions, and which outcomes these studies reported. Stage 2 will produce a grounded theory analysis of case studies of how a sample of HCI researchers do qualitative research, particularly ethnography, in these vast and changing information spaces.