Ethnography it's the descriptive study of the culture of peoples, their language, race, religion, habits, etc., as well as the material manifestations of their activities. It's the science of ethnicities. from the greek ethos (culture) + graph (writing).
Ethnography studies and reveals the customs, beliefs and traditions of a society, which are transmitted from generation to generation and that allow the continuity of a particular culture or a social system.
Ethnography is inherent in any aspect of Cultural Anthropology, which studies the processes of social interaction: the knowledge, ideas, techniques, skills, norms of behavior and habits acquired in the social life of a people.
Ethnography is also part or an integral discipline of ethnology, which deals with descriptive study, classificatory and comparative of material culture, that is, of the artifacts found in the various societies.
Ethnographic research has an anthropological or ethnographic basis, it is based on observation and raising hypotheses, where the ethnologist seeks to describe what, in his view, that is, in his interpretation, is happening in the context searched. One of the characteristics of Ethnography is the physical presence of the researcher and observation
in loco.virtual ethnography
Virtual ethnography is a research methodology that seeks to collect data through the virtual environment, using the various materials available on the web. It is a trend for everyone who seeks new research and learning processes.
Virtual ethnography allows some answers to be obtained to the questions raised. The researcher can analyze, interpret and observe a community, even in cyberspace. It is a methodological complement to several studies.
See too: Meaning of Case Study