Ethnography 101: Intro

Paul Bryan, Usography Corporation (www.usography.com) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 15:28:16 +0000

Ethnography is a field research method developed by anthropologists to understand cultures other than their own. At one time, anthropologists theorized about other cultures from the comfort of their own life context. Ethnography was developed as a method to study the culture from within, as a participant, and at the same time as an observer. Ethnography is by definition and in practice a systematic approach for understanding cultural impacts on behaviors, attitudes, beliefs and rituals.

In recent years, ethnographic studies have gained favor across a wide range of commercial design situations. In the world of web design, the term ethnography can be used rather loosely to mean any research that is conducted on location, or in context of the activity for which a web-based system is being designed. Ethnography is most often used as a data gathering tool when the cost of research is significantly outweighed by the potential revenue of creating an innovative product. Ethnography is especially applicable to projects that are multi-cultural in nature, but is not limited to those types of projects. In design-related ethnographic research, the “culture” being studied may be a segment of a population that shares a set of common characteristics or goals.

Some of the methods associated with ethnographic research are: participant observation, in-depth interviews, participant diaries, informant debriefs, and context mapping. My presentation at UPA 2010 in Munich will focus on the application and adaptation of ethnographic research methods to the field of web design and usability, rather than a rigorous definition of anthropology research methods.

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Ethnography 101: Intro