Renan Goncalves
This article introduces and critically examines a pre-fieldwork virtual methodology designed to support Science and Technology Studies (STS) researchers in gathering preliminary evidence about scientific and technological communities prior to engaging in full-scale ethnographic fieldwork. Drawing on a systematic virtual exploration of the interdisciplinary field of Molecular Systems Engineering (MSE), the study demonstrates how online sources, such as recorded lectures, webinars, institutional documents, funding materials, and virtual scientific events, can be helpful in guiding researchers towards ‘what to look at?’ when diving into unknown communities of scientists and technology developers. Interfacing the virtual methodology with STS theory, the article identifies analytical venues that pre-fieldwork virtual research can productively illuminate. The analysis shows how virtual pre-fieldwork enables researchers to assess the coherence, accessibility, and strategic positioning of a field, while also revealing tensions, asymmetries, and epistemic divergences that warrant further investigation through on-site research. The article contributes methodologically by offering a reflexive account of how pre-fieldwork virtual approaches can inform research design, refine interview strategies, and support decision-making about whether (and how) to proceed with ethnographic immersion. While acknowledging the limitations of digital sources, the study argues that much of contemporary scientific life is already observable online and can be examined in creative, critical, and theoretically informed ways. The pre-fieldwork virtual methodology thus emerges as a valuable complement to ethnographic research, particularly for graduate students and early-career researchers navigating resource constraints and methodological uncertainty.