ETHNOGRAPHY IN BUSINESS

Ethnography: research which explores human cultures

It can be used in business:

●   to investigate customer needs and

●   to help companies develop new designs

Examples of ethnographic research in business

Kitchen equipment

●   Researchers found that cooks could not easily see the  in measuring cups.

Cell phones

●   In Uganda, customers paid to use the cell phones of entrepreneurs.

●   These customers wanted to check the  used.

Computer companies

●   There was a need to develop  to improve communication between system administrators and colleagues.

Hospitals

●   Nurses needed to access information about  in different parts of the hospital.

Airlines

●   Respondents recorded information about their  while travelling.

Principles of ethnographic research in business

●   The researcher does not start off with a hypothesis.

●   Participants may be selected by criteria such as age,  or product used.

●   The participants must feel  about taking part in the research.

●   There is usually direct  of the participants.

●   The interview is guided by the participant.

●   A lot of time is needed for the  of the data.

●   Researchers look for a meaningful pattern in the data.