Finding the field of study is closely connected to focusing on the study and its research questions:

• What are we looking for?
• What are we interested in?
• Why are we interested in it?

Kozinets (2020) emphasises the importance of research questions for any successful netnographic research project. Original, interesting, and fruitful research questions are typically grounded in previous research (what we already know) and empirical phenomena (illustrating something we do not already know). To know if a certain empirical phenomenon has already been adequately understood, you need to consider both the topic of your research question (What is the concept/subject you want to investigate?) and the angle (What do you want to know about the topic?). Your topic is your subject of inquiry, and the angle helps you narrow your focus. The research tradition and (academic) environment you work in will likely point you to certain research questions. With qualitative forms of research, such as Netnography, open and exploratory research questions are useful (exploratory verbs include ‘discover’ and ‘understand’). Much netnographic research, like ethnographic research, is focused on explorations of new cultural contexts or aspects of cultural contexts. Connecting to relevant academic work can provide new insights as well as new explanations and contribute to certain fields of interest.

Netnographic research questions can be developed in stages (Kozinets, 2020), beginning with a broad, opening ‘how-question' offering some process descriptions. Subsequently, a ‘what-question' may be posed, requiring additional nuances and patterns. Finally, a ‘why-question' can open up for explanations and discussions of underlying processes and forces. If we return to the basic premises of Netnography – a focus on cultural phenomena and online interactions, particularly through social media – we find that netnographic research questions often focus on issues such as social media postings and practices, new identities or social roles, group dynamics and power structures, how certain topics are discussed on social media, or how certain forms of online communication differ from other forms.

Exercise: Netnographies from the past

Every Netnography from the past is a time capsule, and reading past Netnographies is a form of social media Archaeology (Kozinets, 2020). Understanding the history of the internet and social media allows for a more nuanced understanding of the present.

Find some selected Netnographies from the past, for example, by doing a search on Google Scholar combining “Netnography” with a topic of your choice (for example, "Netnography + football"). Consider the research questions used in the studies you have found.

Exercise: The initial research question

Now, for you to begin to identify and gradually enter a field of study, try to formulate an initial research question to guide you. If you want some inspiration, Kozinets (2020, p. 158) proposes the following ‘starter’ research question:

What can we learn about [abstract topic X] from an empirical study of [online phenomenon Y]?

While doing your Netnography, you will immerse yourself and participate in phenomenon Y – the field of study. Combined with insights from previous research, your ongoing analysis and gradually more nuanced understanding of the abstract topic X and online phenomenon Y will enable you to fine-tune and develop your initial research question. Next, you will learn more about different netnographic approaches as we discuss how to follow the participants and the field.

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References

• Kozinets, R.V. (2020). Netnography: The essential guide to qualitative social media research (3 ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Chapter 5