Laetitia I certainly don't mean to be elitist, just accurate. :) There's nothing inherently wrong with "illustrative snippets": they are the norm in the presentation of much sociological research, especially when the sample is larger and some quantitative data is also presented. Ethnography is not "alternative" and non-normative by definition. In recent years, it has become aligned with a larger "post-positivist" approach to qualitative research in which the researcher is meant to interrogate their role in the production of knowledge. In my opinion, one should not be conducting virtual research to escape methodological rigor and informing theoretical frameworks. I am not saying that only cultural anthropologists should be conducting virtual research (that would count me out!) or that researchers previously unfamiliar with qualitative methods should not try their hand at it in the "virtual field." But before doing so, they need to familiar themselves with methodology and terminology ________________________________