Ethnography is a social science research method that has its roots in the anthropology and sociology field. It involves participating, observing and describing how people from particular cultural group respond to the situations they find themselves in. the focal point in ethnography may include intensive language, culture learning, intensive study of a single field, and a blend of historical, observational, and interview methods. There are three kinds of data collection that are usually used in ethnographic research which are: Interviews, observations and documents and this in turn produces quotations, descriptions and excerpts of documents that will result in a narrative description.
In this research the steps to follow are: choose a population to be object of study, ask them to accept you as member of their group, observe for an specific period of time, become again an outsider, analyze the facts, theories, concepts, recompiled during that period in order to make a conclusion, and at the end formulate recommendations.
There is an important thing to take into account when doing ethnographic research, and is the Ethics. Since this research takes place among real human being, there are a series of ethical concerns to be aware of before beginning. First of all, be clear to the members of the community, of the goals of the research study and gain the informed consent of their consultant before getting started. Also learn whether the group would prefer to be named in the report or given a pseudonym and offer the result of the research to the informants if they want to read it. And the most important of all, make sure that the research does not harm or exploit those among the research it’s done.
GENZUKA,MICHAEL. A SYNTHESIS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH. University of Southern California. Center for Multilingual, Multicultural Research
HOW ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEAR CAN BE USED FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS?
One example of this is Intel. Ethnography at Intel initially focused on new markets. The company had provided products only for the workplace, but in 1995 managers wondered whether users at home would become a distinct market. Ethnographic research showed so much potential that Intel set up a business unit to concentrate on processors and platforms for home use.
Intel can analyze the latest buying patterns and customer surveys for useful data. But people often can’t articulate what they’re looking for in products or services. By understanding how people live, researchers discover otherwise elusive trends that inform the company’s future strategies.
Another example is the smartphones business, whith etnographic research, companies can contrast the technology perspectives of teenagers, who have used cell phones since they were in elementary school, with those of older generations, who came to them only after becoming proficient with PCs. The anthropologists job, is to understand the perspective of one tribe, consumers, and communicate it to another, the people at Intel. Our experiences in both worlds make this translation possible. Ethnography has proved so valuable at Intel that the company now employs two dozen anthropologists and other trained ethnographers, probably the biggest such corporate staff in the world.
http://hbr.org/2009/03/ethnographic-research-a-key-to-strategy/ar/1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX6yobTXB2A
In this research the steps to follow are: choose a population to be object of study, ask them to accept you as member of their group, observe for an specific period of time, become again an outsider, analyze the facts, theories, concepts, recompiled during that period in order to make a conclusion, and at the end formulate recommendations.
There is an important thing to take into account when doing ethnographic research, and is the Ethics. Since this research takes place among real human being, there are a series of ethical concerns to be aware of before beginning. First of all, be clear to the members of the community, of the goals of the research study and gain the informed consent of their consultant before getting started. Also learn whether the group would prefer to be named in the report or given a pseudonym and offer the result of the research to the informants if they want to read it. And the most important of all, make sure that the research does not harm or exploit those among the research it’s done.
GENZUKA,MICHAEL. A SYNTHESIS OF ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH. University of Southern California. Center for Multilingual, Multicultural Research
HOW ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEAR CAN BE USED FOR INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS?
One example of this is Intel. Ethnography at Intel initially focused on new markets. The company had provided products only for the workplace, but in 1995 managers wondered whether users at home would become a distinct market. Ethnographic research showed so much potential that Intel set up a business unit to concentrate on processors and platforms for home use.
Intel can analyze the latest buying patterns and customer surveys for useful data. But people often can’t articulate what they’re looking for in products or services. By understanding how people live, researchers discover otherwise elusive trends that inform the company’s future strategies.
Another example is the smartphones business, whith etnographic research, companies can contrast the technology perspectives of teenagers, who have used cell phones since they were in elementary school, with those of older generations, who came to them only after becoming proficient with PCs. The anthropologists job, is to understand the perspective of one tribe, consumers, and communicate it to another, the people at Intel. Our experiences in both worlds make this translation possible. Ethnography has proved so valuable at Intel that the company now employs two dozen anthropologists and other trained ethnographers, probably the biggest such corporate staff in the world.
http://hbr.org/2009/03/ethnographic-research-a-key-to-strategy/ar/1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX6yobTXB2A
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