Comparer des méthodes

	Observation participante en ligne	Observation passive en ligne sans participation
Domaine	Méthodologie d'enquête	Méthodologie d'enquête
Famille	Process / pipeline	Process / pipeline
Année d'origine	Late 1990s–2000s	Late 1990s–2000s
Auteur d'origine	Christine Hine (virtual ethnography); Robert Kozinets (netnography)	Christine Hine; Robert Kozinets (digital/online adaptation)
Type	Qualitative data collection method	Qualitative data collection technique
Source fondatrice	Hine, C. (2000). Virtual Ethnography. SAGE Publications. ISBN: 978-0761958956	Kozinets, R. V. (2010). Netnography: Doing Ethnographic Research Online. Sage. ISBN: 978-1847875228
Alias	virtual participant observation, digital ethnographic observation, cyber participant observation, internet participant observation	digital non-participant observation, passive online observation, covert online observation, online unobtrusive observation
Apparentées	5	6
Résumé	Online participant observation is a qualitative data collection method in which the researcher enters a digital community or online environment — forums, social media groups, multiplayer games, virtual workplaces — both as a participant and as an observer, systematically documenting social interactions, practices, and meanings as they naturally unfold in the digital space.	Online non-participant observation is a qualitative data collection technique in which the researcher watches and records naturally occurring behaviour in digital settings — forums, social media platforms, chat groups, comment sections, or online communities — without joining, interacting with, or disclosing their presence to participants. The approach transplants the classical non-participant observation tradition into internet-mediated spaces, enabling study of authentic discourse and interaction as it unfolds organically.