Comparative Digital Ethnography

Comparative Digital Ethnography (CDE) is a qualitative design that applies ethnographic methods — sustained participant observation, interview, and artefact analysis — across two or more digital settings simultaneously. By systematically comparing practices, meanings, and interactions in different online environments (e.g., distinct platforms, communities, or national contexts), CDE surfaces both site-specific patterns and cross-cutting cultural logics that a single-site study would miss.