The roots of ethnography
In case you want to check out some of the pioneers of ethnography, this entry mentions a few of their names. Lewis Henry Morgan was one of the earliest. He lived and worked with the Iroquois, studying their kinship patterns and the influence these patterns had on their society. He tried to use research and his influence as a lawyer to protect Native Americans from exploitation. Because he was such a strong advocate, he was adopted by the Seneca Indians, and was given the name Tayadaowuhkuh , “one who bridges the gap.”
German-born Franz Boas developed a more systematic approach to ethnography. Boas promoted the idea that a culture should be understood in terms of its own beliefs and history, rather than from the context of one’s own culture. This is the key point that connects ethnography as a research method and user-centered design as a professional practice.
Polish anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski developed ethnography further, codifying the practice of participant observation, spending long periods of time in the field, and recording copious field notes.
I mention these pioneers, not because I want to emulate them or study similar issues. Kinship patterns and tangential social gradients of power do not interest me at all. Rather, I’m interested in applying research techniques that help me understand and describe behavior in context, and the unseen forces that shape that behavior on a daily basis, and these researchers blazed a trail that I and my associates are picking up for a very different purpose.
Copyright 2009, Paul Bryan, Usography Corporation (http://www.usography.com)
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