Ethnography: research into human cultures

Business applications

• examining customers’ needs and 

• supporting the development of new designs

Examples of ethnographic research in business Kitchen equipment:

• Researchers discovered that cooks had difficulty seeing the  inside measuring cups.

Cell phones:

• In Uganda, people paid entrepreneurs to use their mobile phones.

• Customers wished to monitor the  they had used.

Computer companies:

• New  was required to help system administrators exchange information with colleagues.

Hospitals:

• Nurses needed information about  wherever they were in the hospital.

Airlines:

• During journeys, respondents recorded their .

Principles of ethnographic research in business

• Selection criteria may include age,  or the product used.
• Participants need to feel  about joining the research.
• Participants are generally studied through direct .

• The participant determines the direction of the interview.

• Considerable time is required for data .

• Researchers seek a meaningful pattern across the data.