In this chapter we have focused on the role that the study of documents, physical objects and virtual communication can play in ethnographic work. These have not always been given the attention they deserve within ethnographic work, the primary emphasis usually being on data from interviews and participant observation in face- to-face rather than virtual settings. We have tried to show the potential offered by these sources of data in the context of work that also draws on the more usual sources.
In the next chapter we will look at issues surrounding the recording and preparation of data for analysis.