The social and behavioral research sciences frequently use ethnography as a qualitative data collection strategy. Data are gathered through observations and interviews to determine how societies and individuals work.
Instead of attempting to control life in a lab, ethnographers observe it as it is. Because life is unpredictable, ethnographers frequently need help summarizing their initiatives in a format that the Board can consider.
However, for the researchers to accept research, it must provide a thorough justification.
Helping researchers understand the research parameters, how participants will be contacted and participate, and the hazards will enable them to embrace flexible research.
This blog will explain ethnographic research, its types, methods to follow, and some pros & cons that might help researchers.
What is ethnographic research?
Ethnographic research examines how a group of people act and interact with each other in their environment. It’s mostly about making observations about people rather than focusing on complex data and numbers.
A classic example of ethnographic research would be for an anthropologist to go to an island, live there for years, and research the people and culture, thereby living with them and observing them for a long time.
This is what Margaret Mead, the most famous anthropologist in history, did for her 1928 book Coming of Age in Samoa.
Even though you probably won’t be going to any remote islands any time soon, you can still learn a lot from this about how to do ethnographic research, such as:
- How important is context
- Putting the subject of the research’s point of view first
- In-depth information about a group of people and their lives
- Observing a society from inside it
- Holistic and based on quality
Type of ethnographic research
Ethnographic research comes in various forms, including business, educational, and ethnographic medical research. They are based on several categories of human activity, and particular traits identify each type.
Business, medicine, education, and psychology are just a few areas where ethnographic research can be applied. It is a multifaceted research design.
1. Psychology Ethnographic Research
This is referred to as psychological ethnography when ethnographic research methodologies are used in psychology to examine human experience and behavior.
This approach may involve observing and engaging with them in their natural habitat to comprehend people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in the context of their culture, community, and social dynamics.
In addition to quantitative methods, psychological ethnographers may utilize qualitative methods to collect information and understand psychological phenomena, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, and field notes.
Psychological ethnography offers a thorough and nuanced understanding of psychological processes and experiences influenced by cultural and social influences.
Examples of questions for ethnographic psychology research include:
- How do people’s ideas and behavior differ depending on their cultural background?
- What effects do a person’s social and communal networks have on their mental health and well-being?
- How do cultural values and conventions influence how people feel and express their emotions?
- What strategies do people use to navigate and compromise their cultural identities in various social contexts?
2. Business Ethnographic Research
Business ethnographic research observes consumer habits and target markets to determine market demands and product/service attitudes. It’s a great research technique for identifying client wants and meeting market demands.
This research method uses fieldwork, interviews, and online surveys to obtain target market consumer habits. Business ethnographers utilize these methods to study customer behavior and develop efficient marketing tactics.
Business ethnographic research requires a consumer or client-oriented framework that prioritizes target markets over the business. This research design seeks to identify repeating customer behavior for market insights.
Asking the right questions helps researchers get relevant data. Business ethnographic research question samples:
- What features of this product or service do you like?
- What drives your use of this product?
- What particular requirements does the product satisfy for you?
- What unique needs does the product not satisfy?
- Does the product’s price reflect its value?
3. Educational Ethnographic Research
Educational ethnography entails studying teaching and learning methods and how they affect classroom behavior. This study paradigm examines how pedagogy affects learning outcomes and stakeholder participation in the classroom.
Educational ethnography research examines students’ learning attitudes, motivations, and dispositions. To get the most relevant and objective data, the researcher uses non-participant observation and direct participant observation.
Educational ethnography research types of question include:
- Do you favor this educational approach?
- Does the educator permit feedback in the classroom?
- Does the teaching approach clearly express the goals?
- How does the student feel about learning?
4. Medical Ethnographic Research
Medical ethnography research is qualitative healthcare research. This research design helps doctors understand patient behavior from simple to sophisticated.
Medical ethnographic research gives healthcare providers valuable information to improve patient care. Ethnographic research helps a healthcare product maker understand target market needs, influencing product design.
Medical ethnographic research also gives healthcare practitioners insights into patients’ complex demands, reactions to prescriptions and treatment procedures, and improvement suggestions.
Medical ethnographic research questions:
- How long have you been using this drug?
- How long have you been undergoing this therapy?
- What constructive adjustments have you already noticed?
- Do you currently have any side effects?
- Does this prescription or course of treatment fit your needs?
Methods of ethnographic research
Ethnographic research may use one or more research methods depending on the field, the size of the sample, and the research goal. There are usually five main ways to do ethnographic research:
- Naturalism,
- Participant observation,
- Interviews,
- Surveys, and
- Research in archives.
So let’s dig into the details:
1. Naturalism
Naturalism, also known as live and work ethnography research, involves observing research variables in their natural context to identify and record behavioral patterns. It may include spending time in the group’s natural habitat to record their activities.
Naturalism, the oldest ethnographic research method, may build rapport between the ethnographer and the variables. The researcher must minimize subject interference to get the most objective results when utilizing this method.
Undisguised naturalistic observation is possible. In disguised naturalistic observation, people are ignorant of being examined, but in undisguised observation, they are aware.
Observing subjects in their native environment in the life and work technique yields the most accurate and relevant data. Modern ethnographers, especially in health and education, avoid this method since it is expensive and time-consuming.
2. Participant observation
Participant observation in ethnography research involves the ethnographer actively interacting with the research subjects. This method resembles life and work.
Participant observation differs from live and naturalistic in that the ethnographer participates in the group. The researcher gets group-only information.
Disguised and undisguised participant observation exists. The ethnographer disguises himself as a research subject in the former.
In undisguised participant observation, the ethnographer joins the gathering and discloses their researcher status. This method is different from hidden participant observation in that it is reactive.
Participant observation gives ethnographers more data. They better understand the research subjects’ experiences and habits from the participant’s perspective.
This research method is limited. First, the researcher’s presence can influence research subjects’ conduct, especially in undisguised participant observation, which might skew results.
Research bias is another concern. Due to their interaction with the group, ethnographers may become less objective, which can lead to experimental bias and impact research results.
3. Interviews
Ethnographic interviews combine profound observation with one-on-one discussions to produce the most authentic research results. The ethnographer talks to the research group while conducting research-related activities in this design.
This contextual inquiry collects data about the research group’s goals and behavior. The ethnographer might ask questions about the research group while observing it in its natural habitat.
The researcher’s relationship with the interviewees frequently leads to an informal, spontaneous ethnographic interview. Participant observation often leads to the ethnographic interview when the ethnographer interacts with the research group to learn about their life.
An ethnographic interview, a two-way research approach, lets the researcher get the most relevant and authentic information from the research group. However, ethnographer-subject relationships can cause experimental bias.
4. Surveys
Ethnography surveys are inductive research methods used to learn about the issue. Analytic induction is a research design that uses survey questions to test hypotheses.
A survey will assist the ethnographer in obtaining data, analyzing it, and reaching objective conclusions. Analytic induction seeks to identify the causes of the research group’s habits and provide reliable explanations.
Use multiple question types in your survey to get the most relevant results. Likert scale, open-ended, multiple-choice, and close-ended ethnography survey questions are prevalent.
Softwares like QuestionPro can let you build and run an ethnographic survey online. The QuestionPro survey software enables you to create an ethnographic survey form in minutes and distribute it to respondents.
Survey response bias and high drop-out rates are important drawbacks of this research strategy. However, this strategy is fast and cost-effective online and can give significant insights about a research group.
5. Research in archives
Archival research is a qualitative ethnographic research method that evaluates existing research, records, and other sources concerning the research group to find useful information. Understanding describes this process.
Archival research uses ethnography to research connected historical materials in place of physical presence. It analyzes all research variable data.
Since the ethnographer does not have contact with the subjects, archive research lowers experimental biases. The ethnographer can also use a huge data set for more accurate findings.
Archival research may misrepresent the research group due to randomization. Archival data may be biased, affecting research results.
Pros & cons of Ethnographic Research
At first glance, there are a lot of benefits to ethnographic research. But it’s important to remember that it can also have several research problems. Read on to find out more about ethnography and its pros and cons.
| Pros | Cons |
| Explains the culture, community, or civilization in detail.Provides an extensive and complex understanding of people’s behavior and views by revealing their viewpoints and experiences.Helps identify human behavior and social dynamics topics.Allows academics to experience the culture and learn more about the people.Studying people in their native environment gives a more accurate picture of human culture, society, and behavior. | Lengthy fieldwork and data collection.Due to the focus on a specific cultural, community, or societal group, it may need to be more generalizable.Objectivity might be easier when the researcher personally connects to the society or persons being examined.Can be biased by the researcher’s culture and experience.May encounter ethical issues like informed consent and participant privacy. |
Conclusion
Ethnographic research is a great way to learn more about your users and the problems they might face in their daily lives. The research will show you things about your users that you might have yet to see if you had asked them to do a task in a lab.
Ethnographic research, on the other hand, can be expensive and take a lot of time. You must use the right research method to ensure you get the answers to your research questions.
After you’ve done your research, you need to present your results clearly and effectively so that teams can use the information to make changes. You should also ensure that your opinions have stayed in the results.
QuestionPro Research Suite facilitates ethnographic research. Its tools let you collect and evaluate qualitative data from various sources to learn about human culture, society, and behavior.
QuestionPro simplifies data collection for participant observation, interviews, focus groups, and visual ethnography so that you may focus on insights and comprehension.
Sign up for QuestionPro today to perform ethnographic research with qualitative research power.
