field guide etnography design

7/28/2019 Field Guide Etnography Design

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ETHNOGRAPHY

FIELDGUIDE

v1.0


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CONTENTS1. WHAT IS DESIGN

ETHNOGRAPHY?

2. KEEPING EYES AND EARS OPEN

3. PROCESSING EXPERIENCES

4. SPACE FOR YOUR OWN NOTES

Provided by Sitra, The

Finnish Innovation Fund

www.sitra.

Created with the

assistance o WeVolve.us

This document is

provided under a

Creative CommonsAttribution-

NonCommercial-

ShareAlike 2.0 licence.


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Ethnography can be seen as a

broad research approach or even

a research style, rather than one

specic methodology. It coversa variety o dierent qualitative

methods, such as participatory

observation, semi-structured

interviews, and video diaries that

can be combined as needed to

bring answers and insights to the

surace.

Ethnography aims to get under

the skin o human behavior, to

better understand the world and

the specics o the cultures we

live in. The ocus o the researchcan be anything rom current

cultural tendencies, to changing

values, attitudes and norms, or

concrete human behavior and

its motivations within dierent

situations and contexts.

In ethnographic research, approach

and attitude are everything. With

the right methods and a healthy

dose o curiosity one can uncover

new insights and develop new

opportunities or almost any given

topic. But with this power comes

the responsibility to always be

ethical when conducting research.

Ethnographic methods are well

suited to inorm the design and

innovation processes to ensure thatthe outcomes resonate with people,

both today and in the uture.

WHAT IS DESIGNETHNOGRAPHY

AGAIN?


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KEEPING

EYES ANDEARS OPENThe ollowing tips and examples will help you to

get the most out o your time in the eld.


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CHECKLIST FOR A

SNAPPY RESEARCHERAlways listen more than you speak.

Remember that it is your responsibility to be true or the thoughts,

behaviors and expressions o people you are studying.

Conduct the research in the natural context o the topic you are

studying and try to create a un and welcoming atmosphere, i

appropriate.

Start the interview with a general description o the goal o the

study, but dont provide a too narrow ocus as that might limit theresponses you will get.

Encourage people to share their thoughts and go about their

business reely, while you ollow along.

Avoid leading questions and questions that can be answered with

only yes/no answers. Ask ollow up questions.

Prepare an outline o the interview questions you would like to ask

beorehand, but dont be araid to stray rom it.

Be a shutterbug and snap photos o interesting things and behaviors.

Keep your ears and eyes open also ater the recorder stops, this is

oten the moment when you get valuable revelations.


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SOmE bASIC

qUESTIONSCan you tell us more about your work, responsibilities, daily

routines, etc?

Can you tell us some background or thishow it all began?

What is the situation at the moment?

Who do you think are the most important actors, partners,

people, etc? Why?

What are the most important practices or the best means?Why exactly these?

What are the downsides or the biggest challenges?

What actors have made it easier? Why?

I you could change something what it would be? Why?

What would you keep as it is right now? Why?

How do you see the situation developing? Why is that?

Is there anything else that you want to say, or something

that I didnt ask yet that I should know?


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The generic tips and advice

described above will help you

almost in every situation, butthere are specic requirements or

studying dierent levels o action.

For example, you would have to ask

and observe dierent things i you

are interested solely in individual

behavior compared to the situation

where you also want to understandhow the system or organization is

unctioning.

When ocusing on individual

behavior, ocus on the visible

and described practices and themotivations behind them. You

probably want to generalize

these particular observations or a

broader set o similar individuals

so make sure you understand well

the role o any and all contextual

actors.

When you study groups or

communities, you would like to

have a representative sample

o dierent people or people in

dierent roles. Always try to identiy

the key people who are passionate

about the community and actively

trying to change something in it.

You can organize both individual

and group session but make sure to

understand the underlying tensionsand hierarchies.

Oten it is very helpul to ask

people to draw the structure and

connections within the group or

community to visualize the actors

that might be hard to describeverbally.

When you are studying an

organization you similarly need to

nd people rom dierent parts o

the organization to get a systemicand holistic idea o the issue and

the opportunity.

I you are interested in

organizational behavior you

can simply be a y on the wall

and observe people within theorganization environment, or

interview them as a group to get

more insight into the motivations o

visible behaviors. When studying an

organization it is also a good idea

to map the perceived structure by

asking people to draw their view o

organization and how it works.


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ObSERVATIONS,

INSIGHTS &OPPORTUNITIESThe most important phase o the research pro-

cess is analysis, where you nally will translate

your observations into bigger insights. Here

you have a ew handy tips or efcient analysis

and synthesis.


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Your memory is short. Make sure to

organize an analysis session within

24 hours rom the observation

and interview sessions, preerably

on the same day. For the analysissession you should have a good

structure and dened themes that

you want to ocus on. These should

come rom your original research

question. Spend enough time to go

through the observations rom the

whole research team, here quantity

is (almost) as important as quality!

Write down your thoughts and

ideas ater the session. I you are

doing the research as a team, dis-

cuss briey with the team about the

most relevant and surprising obser-

vations.

WRITE YOURIDEAS DOWN

ANALYSEImmEDIATELY


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READING bETWEEN

THE LINESIn analysis you can ocus on identiying the

things listed below:

What are the key themes and expressions indiscussions?

Who are the key actors, and how dierent

actor groups relate to each other? I you are

specically interested in actor relationships,

draw a visual map o the actor network.

What are the barriers and challenges, or

opportunities and enablers that can help

people to reach their goals?

What was the situation in the past, what is

the current state and where will it develop

in the uture?

Are there any strong polarizations and

binaries: allowed / orbidden, normal /unusual, outside / inside etc?

What surprising themes, topics or elements

are coming up rom the analysis o the

materials? Are there any conrmations

or rejections or the initial research

hypothesis?


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KEEP THE bIG PICTURE IN mIND

WRITE YOUR GOALS

FOR THE DAY ON THIS

PAGE.

WHAT KIND OFINSIGHTS ARE YOU

LOOKING FOR?


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SPACE FOR YOUR OWN NOTES

When:

Where:

Who:

What:


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