Digital Ethnography for Social Design: Challenges and Opportunities in the Pandemic

Abstract

The restrictions on mobility and several social distancing rules during the Pandemic have ruled out the possibility of carrying out traditional ethnographic research. This paper discusses various opportunities that the digital medium has to offer in terms of redefining and constructing a social space within an ethnographic field, establishing a connection and trust with the participants and the ethical considerations. This paper also seeks to discuss the challenges faced and highlights the limitations of the digital medium while conducting ethnographic research with socially marginalised group of women during Covid-19 Pandemic. The paper is based on the analysis of the experiences of conducting ethnographic research with marginalized communities and on the expertise of other digital anthropologists to understand and highlight the changing role of ethnographic research in the time of a Pandemic. © 2021, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.