Method and the Virtual: Anecdote, Analogy, Culture

Abstract

The question of what counts as culture in the spaces of virtual worlds has emerged as a compelling topic for research, and will likely remain so into the foreseeable future. This is a question not just of theory, but of method. In this formative period for an emerging research community on culture in virtual worlds, it is thus crucial to foster a wide range of approaches, and to challenge forms of methodological partisanship that assert the superiority of any one approach.