This article adopts methodology from digital qualitative studies in order to discuss issues specific to e-sport research in the sociology of sport. The applied concepts are built on a critical discussion of the existing theories and cases from the author’s fieldwork on e-sports among hackers. The employed theories and methods are taken from virtual ethnography, netnography, and digital ethnography. These approaches are discussed critically, especially regarding their relations with Science and Technology Studies and Communication and Media Studies.
The paper advocates acknowledging the cognitive approach from virtual ethnography, while dropping the approach to virtuality in favor of other theories of spatiality, with the theory of infrastructure as the backbone. It discusses the usability of Kozinets’ netnographical genres and their potential differences, but proposes a more practical solution to autonetnography. Finally, it shows how different frameworks in digital ethnography can be used in the context of e-sport research. The last part of the article is devoted to some practical advice based on discussions and practice.
Development in computing resulted in creation of various communities devoted to nonformal computer science and engineering practices. The article examines Polish hackers, defined as a legal part of computer subcultures, and compares studies of hackers done abroad with findings from ethnography done in Poland. Applying actornetwork theory as a methodological framework, it also shows how hacking collectives contribute to ecologies of knowledge on different scales. This contributions, observed as various technological, scientific, or political actions, construct hackerspace as a trading zone. The paper also discusses problems with merging descriptions of hackers’ culture with ANT approach.
W eseju recenzyjnym omawiam książki Harry’ego Collinsa i współautorów, które składają się na tak zwaną trylogię doświadczenia. Książki stanowią próbę teoretycznego uporządkowania wniosków z badań etnograficznych prowadzonych w ramach studiów nad nauką i techniką. Esej zestawia koncepcje Collinsa z propozycjami teoretycznymi Bruno Latoura i wskazuje potencjał ich zastosowań w obrębie badań jakościowych, szczególnie w ramach problematyki biegłości, doświadczenia i wiedzy ukrytej.
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