Netnographic research ethics in applied linguistics: A systematic review of data collection and reporting practices

Abstract

Ethnography – a methodological staple of applied linguistics research since the field's inception – has well-established ethical guidelines. Although ethnographic research has traditionally been subject to institutional ethics review board protocols, the expansion of ethnography into online spaces, which has been recharacterized as netnography, has presented novel ethical challenges (e.g., determining what constitutes ‘public’ versus ‘private’ data, protecting participants’ identities, and more). To better understand how researchers have handled such ethical challenges, this study systematically reviews the data collection and reporting practices of peer-reviewed netnographic research in applied linguistics. High-impact journals were searched using specific criteria, resulting in 60 studies published in 14 journals during the span of 2000–2022. These studies were coded to examine how common issues were handled, such as: gaining informed consent, obtaining permissions (from companies and their representatives to use data), and protecting participants’ identities. Data analyses revealed that, while such ethical issues are a consideration for many researchers, there is still ample room for improvement when it comes to ethical decision-making. Based on our review, in the discussion, we provide suggestions for those who intend to conduct netnographic research in the future.