My problem with this ethnographic study of online list serve conversations is that there are no direct quotes and a masking of names, making this study non-replicable, or bad science. It is replicable! All you would need to do is study the thousands of public posts on that list in the same 12 months as the researcher. This study is not replicable because it would be too difficult to find the topics the researcher analyzes without names. Ethnography is about obtaining textured insights into social phenomenon and illuminating meaning – such as the micro-level nuances of attitudes, not claiming quantifiable facts that need to be proven as Truth. As a positivist, if it can’t be replicated it is not scientific knowledge.
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