ETHNOGRAPHIC

RESEARCH
 ETHNOGRAPHY

Ethnography is study of
-

people in their
environment through the
use of method
IFUGAO
-A Qualitative research study looking at the social
interaction of a people in a certain environment
-Explore Culture Phenomenon
-The study of groups behaviors, beliefs ,languages
and interactions
• -Ethnographic research is a qualitative
method where researchers observe
and/or interact with a study’s
participants in their real-life
environment. Ethnography was
popularized by anthropology, but is used
across a wide range of social sciences.
 CHARACTERISTISTICS OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
• Cultural theme
• Cultural sharing group
• Shared patterns of behavior, beliefs
and language
• Field work: Emic, Etic, and
Negotiation
 TYPES OF ETHNOGRAPHIC
REASEARCH
• REALIST ETHNOGRAPHIES
• CASE STUDIES
• CRITICAL ETHNOGRAPHIES
REALIST ETHNOGRAPIES
 CASE STUDY
• Study of program, events, or
activity of individual
• In-depth exploration of actual
case
• Extensive data collection
Types of Case Study
 CRITICAL
ETHNOGRAPHIES
 Guidelines for conducting
ethnographic fieldwork
• Collect a variety of information from different
perspectives and different sources.
• Use observation, open interviews, and site
documentation, as well as audio-visual materials
such as recordings and photographs.
• Write field notes that are descriptive and rich in
detail.
• Represent participants in their own terms by
using quotations and short stories. Capture
participants’ views of their own experiences in
their own words.
 ADVANTAGES
• Ability to see first-hand how users interact
with technology in their natural environment
• Identify unexpected issues that you might not
have encountered in a usability test.
• Ethnography’s other main benefit is generally
considered to be its ability to deliver a
detailed and faithful representation of users’
behaviours and attitudes
 DISAVANTAGES
• Requires long period of time
• Cost a lot of money
• Short Studies may not success
 IDENTIFY RESEARCH QUESTION
• Determine what problem you are seeking to
better understand. Develop a problem
statement that raises questions you seek to
know more about. The problem or question
may be about nearly any topic that addresses
people in a designated environment. You may
be wishing to better understand things like
culture, relationships, interactions, processes,
or anything else that affect how people think
and/or behave.
 DETERMINE LOCATION(S) FOR
RESEARCH
• Identify the best place to conduct the
participatory research. You may choose more
than one location if the research
question/problem warrants it. Select a
location that will provide the best opportunity
to observe, participate, take field notes, and
understand how the people in that
environment act, communicate, and think.
FORMULATE PRESENTATION METHOD

• Consider the most effect way(s) to obtain

objective information. Will you be adopting a
role of a person in the community or
organization you are observing? Will you be
covert or will others know you are conducting
research? Recognize that if others know you
are a researcher, they may act and respond
differently. If they don’t know, on the other
hand, consider the most ethical way to
observe and collect data.
 ACQUIRE PERMISSIONS AND
ACCESS
• Because ethnographic research can be a bit
intrusive, it’s usually necessary to obtain
permission for access into the location you
plan to research. Always obtain permission in
writing. Let decision-makers know what your
observational methods will be, how you plan
to participate, how the information you collect
will be used, and so forth. Being ethical and
considerate is critically important.
 OBSERVE AND PARTICIPATE

• Ethnography requires more than just observation.

To research effectively, you will want to
participate in the organization you are
researching in some capacity. Determine the
types of things you are looking for in regards to
your question and problem and determine the
most effective ways to collect notes. Be as
objective as possible when observing and
participating. Write running descriptions, things
you remember, impressions and feelings, ideas
that come to mind, and so forth.
 INTERVIEW

• To increase your understanding of behaviors

and actions, interviews may be necessary. You
may do these interviews immediately after
witnessing something, at the end of a
designated observation period, at the end of
the day, or even at the end of the entire
research period. Determine who is best to
interview and what questions are critical to
helping you understand your research
question.
 COLLECT ARCHIVAL DATA

• Many organizations, communities, and

cultures have other artifacts and information
that you can use to assist in your data
collection. Review things like papers, emails,
physical artifacts, phone conversations,
marketing collateral, websites, and other
information-rich sources to enhance your
understanding of the environment.
 CODE AND ANALYZE DATA

• Code your data in a way that makes the most

sense for your observations. Consider the
following methods for analyzing and
summarizing data: code and label things you
saw and heard; sort for patterns; identify
outliers; compare with theories; take note of
reflective remarks.
 ANALYZING AND
INTERPRETING
ETHNOGRAPHIC DATA
• In ethnographic research, analysis takes place
throughout the research project and is tightly
connected with interpretation. This means
that, during your research process, you will
continuously analyze, interpret and learn from
your empirical data.

• Start with reading through your field notes

and other data. Do this several times. The first
reading you can do quickly to get an overall
picture of the data. However, as you proceed,
it is useful to be much more through
• Reduction of data is often the second step of
the analysis. In this case you can, for instance,
decide to use only certain parts of the
documents (those that are closely connected
to your research question), or to make
summaries of them to make easier their use.

• Once you have findings and conclusions in

mind, you may need to elaborate the
preliminary research question of your study
 WRITING AND EVALUATION OF
ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH
• The word ethnography literally means ‘a
portrait of a people’, which reminds us that
ethnography is about representing the field in
turn, suggests that ethnography concerns
both the processes of accomplishing the
research and the research report itself, which
is often written in the form of prose rather
than in the form of a more traditional
academic research report
USING THE
NARRATIVE
FORM
• Business-related ethnographic research often
starts with presenting a problem or an issue in
the guiding question. The researchers then
proceed to explore this question or problem
and analyze it in light of the fieldwork.
Therefore, it is useful to clarify early on in the
research report why the selected issue or
problem is important and why it is worthy of
investigation.
• Ethnographic writing includes a lot of detailed
description presented in narrative form

• The purpose of description is to let the reader

know what happened in the field, what it was like
from the participants’ point of view to be there,
and what particular events or activities were
interesting and worth exploring further. A
detailed description and quotations are essential
qualities of ethnographic accounts
• What is included by way of description will
depend on what kind of research questions the
researcher is trying to answer. Often, an entire
activity or event will be reported in detail
because it represents a typical or unique
experience, or because it allows a very detailed
micro-analysis .

• Even a comprehensive research report will have

to leave aside much of the empirical data
available. This is why you should be careful to
keep the focus of your research in mind during
the entire writing process.
• Extensive description needs to be balanced by
analysis and interpretation. An interesting and
readable ethnographic research report provides
sufficient description to allow the reader to
understand the analysis, and sufficient analysis to
allow the reader to understand the interpretation
and explanation presented. Be sure that the
points that you present as evidence are based
upon your data. In order to understand your
research, the reader needs to see the path from
description, analysis and interpretation, to results
and conclusions in the research report