To: Prof. George Pullman
From: Osman Shaw
Re: Ethnography Defined
Date: February 12, 2003
The Science of Ethnography
Ethnography is basically the science of observing people aimed at interpreting their lives
and behaviors. Ethnography differs from other forms of observation in that it is based upon
participant observation, in which the observer becomes involved in the lives of those being
observed over a period of time in order to understand the details of those lives. This can be done
either openly in the role of researcher, or covertly in some disguised role. An example of the
latter can be found in Whyte‟s (1955) study, Street Corner Society, in which Whyte glossed his
research role by referring to himself vaguely as a writer.1 Ethnography focuses on culture and
meaning and attempts to understand how people behave and why they behave in certain ways.
Thus, as Simon Roberts puts it in The Ideas Bazaar, “the goal of ethnography is to provide a
description of the world as perceived by those within that world, to understand what activities
mean to the people who do them and to provide an interpretative description of this world.”2 True
ethnography therefore means to see with the eyes of those being observed, to think and act like
them, and even to live in their dwellings, because it is only through this can we achieve an
accurate understanding and provide a fitting description of their lives.
Formerly a practice of anthropologists and sociologists, ethnography aims at studying a
sub-culture, which is a social culture within a larger culture, for example senior citizens or
hairdressers; or an ethnic group, which comprises people who share distinctive cultural
1
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/sociologyVSOC/handbook
2
http://www.ideasbazaar.co.uk/abc.htm
characteristics originating from a common national, linguistic, or racial heritage,3 example the
Hispanic community or the African American community. Ethnography has been used to study
exotic tribes, neighborhoods, industrial subcultures, prisons, occupations, the army the police etc.
Moreover, the commercial world also now frequently uses ethnography. And the reason for this
is clear: businesses like to know about the people to whom their goods and services are marketed;
ethnography provides the penetrating insights into the lives of those people. We shall return to
the benefits of ethnography later.
For now we have clearly seen that participant observation plays an important, if not the
most important role, in the science of ethnography, but a number of tools are also available to the
ethnographer. First we have the interview, which gives the ethnographer a chance to discuss his
observation and interpretation with the respondent to clarify points and fill in the blanks. But it is
also important to point out that such an interview must take place over a period of time. This way
the researcher has the opportunity to go over the question-and-answer transcript away from the
interview, a process that might reveal significant loopholes and new questions to be addressed at
the next interview session.
Next among the ethnographic tools we have a collection of artifacts, which will serve as
excellent visual representations for some concepts that might otherwise sound abstract. A
collection of tools used by the subjects, photographs and or video clips of the scene, people and
equipment etc, will show, rather than merely tell, research stakeholders the context of the
ethnography. The use of microphones and tape recorders is also popular among ethnographic
researchers. Usually called verbal diaries,4 these taped conversations provide an excellent method
for the researcher to get as close as possible to the respondents‟ lives and thoughts.
3
Oxford American Dictionary
4
http://www.ideasbazaar.co.uk/abc.htm
Note, however, that these data-gathering activities such as interviews, field notes,
photographs etc are meant merely to complement, not to serve as an alternative, to careful and
involved observation, because careful and involved observation always provides a more accurate
and unbiased picture for the ethnography.
Furthermore, one must differentiate ethnography and orthodox social research methods,
which have their own structure of information. Analysts and researchers using orthodox methods
already have their own theoretical preconceptions of the social setting and tend to interpret things
just as they see them. Such methods impose on the phenomenon they purport to investigate. For
example, an interviewer or a questionnaire might ask respondents about their occupational
history, their experiences at work, their attitudes toward the firm they work for etc, and treat
these as indices of the general social context. But these can hardly accurately reflect reality since
the respondent‟s responses maybe contrived. For example, an employee would not be willing to
reveal details that might jeopardize his/her job. Ethnography, on the other hand, does not impose
framework on the setting; it merely discovers the social organizational properties of that setting
as it is naturally exhibited.5
But what is the rationale of Ethnography? What are the benefits of Ethnography? I have
indicated earlier that ethnography was formerly a practice of sociologists and anthropologists, but
it still serves as an invaluable tool to help these researchers understand the people and cultures
they intend to study. Ethnography investigates and interprets complex social and cultural
differences and creates a better appreciation for the cultural landscape. Typically, it is only
through ethnographic research that we learn about most exotic cultures. For example, it would be
extremely difficult to understand and appreciate the lives of the Massai tribesmen in Kenya
without the help of ethnographic research. This can be called traditional ethnography.
5
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/sociologyVSOC/handbook
Furthermore, because of its ability to penetrate the lives of people, ethnography is also
now widely applied to the commercial world, and the following caption by Gestalt, a company
that specializes in commercial ethnography can best explain this:
“Gestalt helps you see the whole picture and get the whole story. Products, advertisements, spaces,
brands, services, etc., are all meaningless until consumers place meaning in them. In order to know what your
products, services, messaging, and brands mean to consumers, then, you have to be able to see them through
the eyes of your consumers. That's where we come in. Through ethnographic research (full immersion,
participant observation, and on-going informal interviewing) we uncover the insights that will transform your
business”.
In a sense this excerpt succinctly summarizes ethnography, the goal of ethnography and the
benefits of ethnography. Commercial ethnography generates a detailed understanding of a market
and generates actions based on these understandings.6 Without commercial ethnography,
corporations will have a hard time trying to understand consumer response to their products and
services. No wonder more and more corporations are now deeply involved in ethnographic
research. For example, software developers almost always rely on some kind of ethnographic
research to understand their end users. In fact there has been a growing interest in ethnography
within the context of system design. A well-done ethnography can be an important educational
exercise for designers by sensitizing them to the „real world‟ context of work activities, forcing
them to think about things where they did not do previously.7
“One of the things that make a successful technology is a technology that supports
experiences that people want to have,” explained Dr. Genevieve Bell, senior researcher and design
ethnographer at Intel. “Our job is to find new uses for technology by spending time with people in
their daily lives.”8
6
Ideas Bazaar
7
http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/sociologyVSOC/handbook
8
Ideas Bazaar
In conclusion, it is important to point out that the survey and the questionnaire, not
ethnography, remain the standard model of social research. However, as more and more
corporations become increasingly reliant on ethnographic research, there is reason to believe that
ethnography is becoming more and more respectable, and thus might overtake surveys and
questionnaires as the standard model of social research.