What is Ethnographic Research? Meaning, Types and Examples

If you have ever tried to understand how people behave, you probably think of surveys, interviews, or focus groups. But have you ever felt like these methods don’t tell the whole story? That’s where ethnographic research comes in!

It’s different—it’s hands-on, immersive, and really helps you get the full picture of how people live, think, and act. Whether you run a business, work in marketing, or just want to understand people better, ethnographic research can be a great tool.

Let’s break it down simply. This blog will look into...

• The Meaning of Ethnographic Research
• Different Types of Ethnographic Research
• How it works
• Why it is Useful for Businesses
• Real-World Examples of Ethnographic Research
• Challenges in Ethnographic Methods
• How SurveySparrow Can Help in Simplifying Your Research

Off we go!

(I have added a free template in case you want to try it out. Feel free to customize it as you like.)

What is Ethnographic Research?

Ethnography is all about spending time with people to see how they act in their daily lives. Rather than just asking them a question through a survey or a lab, you go into their world—you go into their environment and watch them.

You observe them in their natural environment, which helps you understand the "why" behind their actions.

Imagine trying to figure out how customers use your product or how they perceive your brand. Sure, you could just ask them. But many times, people aren't aware of why they do certain things: they may omit important information or simply don't observe some of their behaviors.

This is where ethnography can help you see those things they may not be aware of themselves. Being there, observing them in action, permits you to capture those tiny important elements that can make a huge difference.

While ethnographic research can offer very deep insights, it is resource-intensive. Plus, it can be time-consuming and costly. Having the backup of an advanced survey tool will help you get a bird's eye view of the target audience being studied.

Perhaps you can use SurveySparrow here! With a survey, you can validate the themes identified during the ethnographic study or even quantify how frequently certain kinds of behaviors occur. We'll talk about the platform in a bit. But if you want to explore right now, take it for a free spin!

What Are the Different Types of Ethnographic Research?

Ethnography comes in styles depending on what you are trying to learn. Here are some of the common types:

Traditional Ethnography

This is probably what most people first conjure up when they hear "ethnography," a long observation of the participation of a group of people in everyday life. Well, companies do it too!

For example, you might observe how your consumers shop or use your product in the home in order to understand how they interact with it.

For a company creating a new kitchen appliance, observing how families cook in their kitchens can provide insight into what works and what doesn't in their product design.

Digital Ethnography

As more of our lives move online, ethnographers study how people act in digital spaces. This might involve the way they interact with social media, online shopping, or mobile apps. If a business operates increasingly online, digital ethnography allows this business to observe how its customers think of and interact with their brand on the internet.

Perhaps a clothing retailer wants to understand how shoppers browse an online store so that they can create a seamless online shopping experience for them.

Read More: 70+ Online Shopping Questions for Ecommerce Businesses

Mobile Ethnography

Pretty modern! Instead of you going to them, they record themselves describing experiences with their mobile devices. They might take pictures, record videos, or even just take notes about how they use your product throughout the day.

It is an interesting way to get insights without actually having to be there. For instance, a company that sells products for babies may ask the parents to record their daily routines with their babies in an effort to incorporate these products into their lives.

How Does Ethnographic Research Work?

So, how do researchers actually do ethnography? It is a combination of different methods, which thereby makes it flexible and adaptable, based on what you need. Some of the more common methods include the following:

Participant Observation

This means the researcher is actively participating in whatever they are researching. The researcher joins in, rather than standing off to one side and simply having a look. For example, living with some family for some time will make it much easier to observe how they really interact with a particular product.

For example, a food company might want to develop a new recipe by staying with a family in order to observe their behavior, preferences, and problems when cooking.

Interviews

Ethnographic interviews are not formal questionnaires. They are relaxed and open, and participants converse freely about their experiences.

These conversations tend to reveal stories and insights that would never be discussed in a simple survey. For example, a technology company designing a new device might conduct informal interviews with users, during which users can discuss their frustrations and desires to use existing products.

Field Notes

While observing, researchers will jot down everything they are seeing. The field data are dense, capturing all the little behaviors and interactions that make up everyday life.

It's these little details that have the potential to give the richest insights. In any research, for example, dealing with working-at-home practices, they take field notes on how the people organize their day of work, how they take breaks, and which tools they most depend on.

Why Ethnographic Market Research is Useful for Businesses?

If you are into business, Ethnographic Market Research can surely prove to be a game-changer for you at times. Unlike other typical questionnaires or focus groups providing you with superficial data, ethnography actually takes you to the real picture.

It's about observing how customers actually behave in their natural environment, either at home, at work, or while shopping.

Just imagine for a moment that you're sitting in a customer's home, observing how they use your product. You notice something that they don't even realize. Maybe they're struggling with a feature. Perhaps they use the product in a way that you didn't expect.

These are golden insights that help you design a better product or improve your service so that it really meets your customers' needs.

For example, a fitness industry manufacturer could observe how people use their products in their personal gyms. They may find that users struggle with setting up the devices, thereby reassessing and redoing the instruction sheets or setting up services to do better installations.

Ethnographic Research Examples

Let's have a view of real-world examples where ethnography made a difference:

Tech Companies

Think of companies like Google and Facebook. They use digital ethnography to see how users interact with their platforms. They can work out what people love, are annoyed by, and how they navigate when using certain apps or a website by observing individuals using such apps or websites. They use the information to better their products.

For example, Google observes what kind of queries a user types in a search box and recognizes it, thus helping it enhance its algorithms for returning replies faster and more accurately. Furthermore, many UX design teams from tech startups use ethnographic research UX for product improvements.

Retail Stores

IKEA serves as a very good example. They have used ethnographic methodologies by asking customers to record their shopping trips using cell phones. This will allow IKEA to know how people move through their stores, what catches their eye, and what they skip over.

With this information, IKEA would be able to modify a store layout in order to make shopping simpler and less frustrating.

Other cases include genres where mobility ethnography has been useful, such as the chain of groceries, to understand exactly how consumers are interacting with in-store promotions and product displays.

Healthcare Providers

The practice of ethnography started for the Hospitals and clinics who intended to offer better patient care. By observing exactly how patients and doctors interact, they can find ways to make the healthcare experiences smoother.

For instance, they might feel apprehensive about asking questions during consultations with the physician. This would imply that physician-patient interactions are tailored to allow patients to express their issues as fully as possible.

What Are the Challenges in Ethnographic Methods?

Ethnographic research methods offer a lot of advantages. However, it comes with several challenges:

Time-consuming

A considerable amount of time can be consumed by the ethnographic method. Sometimes, observing people for long, continuous periods is exhausting; sometimes, it is weeks, even months. It requires actually staying with participants, observing them, taking notes, and then analyzing it all afterward, which can be very time-consuming.

Expensive

Since it involves long-term observation, ethnography can be more expensive than other methods. Expenses could include traveling, accommodations if the researchers have to stay with the participants, and time spent gathering and analyzing data. This might make it hard for small businesses to invest in ethnographic research.

Read More: 11 Best Tools for Small Businesses

Data Analysis

Unlike quantitative data, which is easy to measure and analyze, ethnographic data is mostly qualitative. This means that researchers have to review lengthy field notes, interview transcripts, and videos to look for patterns. Analyzing ethnographic data can be complicated, and strong analytical skills are needed to ensure that the data is interpreted correctly.

How Can SurveySparrow Help?

Why don't we look at this with an example?

Let's say a social media company conducts ethnographic research to determine how people use media platforms in their everyday lives.

The researchers use participant observation as the primary method to collect data. While ethnographic research may provide quite good qualitative insight into the phenomenon, it is often difficult to generalize the findings to a population.

Quantifying behaviors or attitudes may also be a big hurdle. So, what if you have a large population of interest?

With SurveySparrow at your disposal, you can...

• Distribute the surveys to the larger sample size via the channel of your choice. For instance, if in an ethnographic study, it is found that users spend most of their time using the app to consume news, then a SurveySparrow survey can be used to ask how important "news" is to the respondents and how many times they use the app for it.
  
  Here's a sample template you can use. Feel free to customize it as you like.

Social Media Usage Questionnaire Template

Preview Template

Use This Template

• If participants are reported to be using the application in group chat activities, this survey may ask them to report how many group chats they participate in daily and how long each such activity lasts.
• Measure satisfaction and perception with personalized surveys. The conversational approach can also help you get 40% more responses.
• The survey may ask respondents to rate their overall satisfaction with the platform on a scale of 1 to 5 and whether they would recommend it to a friend or a family member.
• This will help you understand the target audience, validate a study's findings, and identify areas for product improvement.

Why don't you give the platform a try? You need not share your credit card details before you decide to invest.

Closing Thoughts

Ethnography is a powerful way to understand people on a deeper level. Whether it's digital or mobile ethnography, this approach uncovers real-world behaviors and emotions that traditional surveys miss.

If you're trying to solve a problem or connect with your audience, try ethnographic research. The insights you gain could transform the way you think about your customers.