Types of Ethnographic Research

Not all market research is surveys and focus groups. Sometimes research is conducted to better understand customer behaviors and needs. One example of this type of research is ethnography, which is an attempt to better capture and understand human behavior through observation and behavioral logging.

Ethnography at its purest form would involve simply sitting in and watching a family or community. Think of it as watching a reality TV show, except with normal people and without creative video cropping/editing. In general, however, this type of research is fairly difficult – especially in marketing – and may not even provide you with results that help with your product research because of behavioral changes that occur from observer bias.

But there are other types of ethnographic research that may be used in the business world.

Taped Interviews Taped interviews are considered a form of ethnography. Unlike a traditional interview, however, the interviews are taped to be more free flowing, without constantly writing down data. Sometimes the interviews are unstructured as well to see if they develop into greater levels of information.

Taped interviews can be used for almost any type of qualitative research , but the idea is that the person being studied is in a more natural setting for analysis. Website Usability Testing Mouse tracking may be considered a form of ethnographic research. Mouse tracking involves data on where the mouse moves on the page, including the speed, time spent where the mouse clicks, etc.

Mouse tracking can also be completed without participant knowledge, which makes it more valuable for analysis. Product Use Ethnography is often used in product development. How the ethnography is used differs between companies and products, but the idea is that watching consumers use the product helps companies understand where a new product can be valuable (or how a product can be improved).

For example, if you see that customers are struggling to open up your product package, your company now knows that it needs to create better packages.

Ethnography is often harder to do, because watching people in a natural environment and learning from their behaviors isn't always possible for every company. But ethnography has many implications that make it a valuable tool for businesses that know how to use it correctly, and when it comes to qualitative research, it should be at least considered as a potential option.