Introduction to Using Ethnography in Research

Webinar

Context/Background

Ethnography covers a realm of techniques that enable researchers to understand how people make sense of their social world(s). However, there are long-standing tensions between academic (or ‘traditional’) ethnography and what we often refer to as ethnography in the commercial sector.

We’ll take a look at the key contesting notions, and outline how commercial and social researchers and their clients can get ‘the best of both worlds’ and generate truly actionable insight from ethnographic research.

Content

• There’s more to ethnography than visiting people at home! We’ll talk about complementary techniques you can use, to help you supercharge ethnographic fieldwork and understand real people and their world.
• We’ll also talk about how clients can really use and action insights gathered through ethnography.

Who would benefit?

Junior researchers working in an agency environment, and those working clientside who are interested in furthering their knowledge of ethnographic practices and application.

Objectives

• To provide a grounding in ethnography as a research approach and shine a light on some of the hotly-contested current issues.
• To outline principal ethnographic techniques typically used in commercial research and their benefits.
• To explore ways in which ethnographic insights can be made actionable.

Learning outcomes

• An overview of ethnography as a method, the challenges it faces and practical ways to amplify data collection and understanding.
• Useful ideas about how data from ethnography can address a client’s research issues in practical, actionable ways.