Utilization of Netnography as a Health Care Research Methodology: Scoping Review

TL;DR

This review examines how netnography is used in healthcare research to study digital interactions, highlighting its potential and the need for clearer ethical and methodological standards.

Contribution

The study provides a comprehensive scoping review of netnography's application in healthcare, identifying gaps in methodological and ethical reporting.

Findings

Netnography is commonly used to study health communication and experiences of stigmatized or hard-to-reach groups.

Only 33 out of 82 studies reported formal ethical approval, and just over half addressed informed consent.

The review calls for clearer guidance on ethical standards and reporting practices in netnographic healthcare research.

Abstract

Netnography is an emergent qualitative methodology adapted from ethnography to explore interactions and cultural dynamics within digital environments. Although it is increasingly used in health care research, its application remains inconsistent, particularly regarding methodological transparency and ethical reporting. Given netnography’s growing use in health care and the limited guidance on its application, a timely review of how it is defined and operationalized in the literature is warranted.

This scoping review aims to identify, examine, and report how netnography has been defined and operationalized in the health care literature.

A scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute framework and reported following PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews) guidelines. Comprehensive searches across 20 databases and gray literature sources identified peer-reviewed and academic studies that used netnography or netnographic methods within health care. Records were independently double-screened against prespecified eligibility criteria informed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence topic classifications. Data from the included studies were charted and synthesized narratively to generate the findings.

Eighty-two studies were included, spanning diverse health care topics, populations, and digital platforms. Netnography was most frequently applied to explore health communication, chronic illness, patient empowerment, and health care experiences, particularly among stigmatized or hard-to-reach groups. Ethical transparency varied widely: only 33 studies reported obtaining formal ethical approval, and just over half addressed informed consent.

Netnography holds significant promise for health care research, offering insights into lived experiences and access to otherwise inaccessible populations. However, inconsistent methodological and ethical reporting raises concerns about rigor and accountability. To strengthen future applications, clearer guidance is needed on ethical standards, methodological justification, and reporting practices, particularly when researching vulnerable groups and sensitive health issues.

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