Anthropology -- Short And Long Term Paper

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What is participant observation and what are the advantages of it (please use the virtual reality game (Second Life) as an example.

Participant observation is a type of anthropological, sociological, and other research-based disciplines in which the researcher can become directly and intimately involved with specific populations of research subjects. In its traditional format, researchers from one culture live with foreign societies as a method of increasing their understanding of their cultures through direct first-hand, face-to-face experiences as temporary members of those cultures.

In the context of the study of virtual-reality-game societies such as Second Life, participant observation takes the form of participating in the virtual reality game and interacting exclusively with Second Life characters within that virtual context. The advantage of this type of research is that it reduces the influence of the researcher's biases and maximizes the experiential aspect of the research.

Explain "humans always virtual" and virtual worlds (Please use Second Life virtual reality game and relate it as an example).

In general, human beings and their behavior is always the product...

...

In that sense, there is less basis for conceptual distinction between the virtual realm and the realm of ordinary life. In both cases, the individual is part of a virtual society by virtue of being largely a product of the norms, values, and expectations of the external environment. The primary difference between Second Life and real life is that the former is dependent on artificially created cultural constructions. However, in its effect on individuals within the specific realm, there is little distinction between the way that the individual relates to the external environment.
In principle, the virtual aspect of individual perception and social relations is very similar irrespective of the underlying distinction between the constructs in real world and those within artificially created virtual worlds such as Second Life.

Sources Consulted

Boellstorff, T. (2008). Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist

Explores the Virtually Human. Princeton: New Jersey: Princeton University

Press.

Robbins, R., and Larkin, S. (2007). Cultural anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach.

Toronto: Nelson.

Sources Used in Documents:

Sources Consulted

Boellstorff, T. (2008). Coming of Age in Second Life: An Anthropologist

Explores the Virtually Human. Princeton: New Jersey: Princeton University

Press.

Robbins, R., and Larkin, S. (2007). Cultural anthropology: A Problem-Based Approach.


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