Ethnographical Research

Ethnographical research
• Disciplinary root –anthropology

• Central questions-what is the culture of this
group of people
What is ethnography research
• Ethnography is a study through direct

observation of users in their natural
environment rather than in a lab. The
objective of this type of research is to gain
insights into how users interact with things
in their natural environment.
The aim of ethnographic research
• Ethnography is a qualitative research study looking at the social
interaction of users in a given environment. This research provides
an in-depth insight into the user’s views and actions along with the
sights and sounds they encounter during their day. It provides the
researcher with an understanding of how those users see the world
and how they interact with everything around them.
• Ethnography methods include direct observation, diary studies,
video recordings, photography and devices that a person uses
throughout the day. Observations can be made anywhere from the
user’s workplace, their home or while they are out with family and
friends. The length of the studies can vary depending on the
research that is being conducted. They can range from a couple of
hours of observation, to studies that last several months.
• Ethnography in addition to being a
theoretical perspective is a method of
carrying out qualitative observational
research.
• The basic purpose of ethnographic research
is to determine the physical and social
environment in which the individuals under
live, study, work and so forth.
• The roots of anthropology includes the
cultural phenomenon.
• Document and content analysis is concerned
with the explanation of status of some
phenomena at particular time or its
development over a period of time .it serves
as useful purpose in adding knowledge to
field of enquiry and in explaining certain
social events
• In documentary analysis the source of data
may be
• Records, reports, printed
forms ,letters,autobiographies,diaries,comp
ositions,themes and other academic
works,books,periodicals,bulletins ,catellogu
es,syllabi,court decisions,pictures ,films and
cartoons.
• When using documentary sources one must
bear in mind that data appearing in print
are not necessarily trustworthy
• Authenticity and validity of its content is
crucial.
• It is the researchers obligation to to
establish trustworthiness of all data that he
or she draws from documentary sources.
Topics
• To describe prevailing practices or
conditions
• To discover the relative importance of or
interest in certain topics and problems
• To discover the difficulty of presentation in
textbooks or in other publications
• To analye types of errors in students work.
Ethnographic studies
• Also known as cultural anthropology or
naturalistic inquiry.
• It consisted of participant
observation ,conversation, to study cultural
characteristics of primitive people
• These groups were small in
number ,geographically and culturally isolated
with little specialization in social function with
simple economies and technology
• Cultural features as language ,marriage and
family life ,child rearing practices ,social
relations and rules of conduct ,political
institution ,methods of production were
analyzed.
• Ethnographic methods of research have used to
investigate such problems as
• Students leadership role in an urban racial
integrated high school
• Pupil teacher relationship in Sunderban High
school.
• Social relationships in class of emotionally
disturbed children
• Staff parent interaction in an Individualized
Education Plan staffing.
Data collection techniques
• Observation
• Interview
• The combination of the two
• Observation can be of the setting or
physical environment ,social interactions,
physical activities ,non verbal
communications ,planned and unplanned
activities and interactions
Interviews
• The purpose of interviewing is to find out
what is in or someone else mind.
• Interview data can easily become biased and
misleading if the person being interviewed is
aware of the perspective of the interviewer
• Interview range from quite informal and
completely open ended to very formal with
the questions predetermined and asked in a
standard manner.
Data analysis
• The first step in analyzing qualitative
research involves organizing the data
through observations, interviews and
documents.
• The method of organizing data will differ
depending upon the research strategy and
data collection techniques used,
• Second stage is data analysis ,description,
• The researcher describes the various
pertinent aspects of the study including the
setting
• Final step is interpretation involves
explaining the
findings,answerinwhy,questions,attaching
significance to particular results and
putting patterns into an analytic framework
• The interpretation of qualitative research
data is more dependent on the researcher
background ,skills, biases and knowledge
than conclusion drawn from quantitative
research which are derived more directly
from the numerical analysis of data.
Advantages of ethnographic research
• 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
• Opportunity to test new product ideas before
they are released to the market to see what
demand is like
Disadvantages of Ethnography research
• Because there is a greater insight into the

user it takes much longer to generate and
analyse all the findings.
• Short studies may not get a user acting
naturally as they are aware of the
researchers present.
• The cost of conducting ethnographic studies
is typically much higher than conducting a
usability test.
summary
• Qualitative research focuses on in depth
interviews ,observations and document analysis
• Qualitative research interprets data without
numerical analysis
• The most common forms of qualitative research
were document or content analysis ,case studies
and ethnography.
• Steps of qualitative data analysis are-data
organization, description of data and
interpretation of data.
Conclusion
• Ethnographic studies are a good way to really understand
your users and the challenges they may face while going
about their everyday lives.
• The research will give you insights to your users that you
may not have seen if they were in a lab being asked to
complete a task. However, Ethnographic studies can be
costly and time consuming, so making sure that you get the
research method right is crucial to making sure that you
are getting the research questions answered. Having
conducted a study, you then need to present your findings
back in an informative and meaningful way that will allow
teams to use the information to make informed changes,
making sure that your own opinions have not come into the
findings.
Thanks
Dr Kalpana Patni Lakhera

Assistant Professor,Education
Uttarakhand Open University ,Haldwani

Ethnographical Research

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ethnographical Research

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ethnographical Research

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ethnographical research

• Disciplinary root –anthropology

• Ethnography is a study through direct

• Ability to see first-hand how users interact

• Because there is a greater insight into the

Dr Kalpana Patni Lakhera

You might also like