ethnography

Ethnography is a qualitative research method used to study people and their cultures by observing them in their natural settings and describing their daily practices, interactions, and social meanings. It aims to understand how groups interpret the world and how social life is organized from the inside, often producing detailed, contextual portraits rather than generalizable statistics. While rooted in anthropology, ethnography is now employed across sociology, education, health, urban studies, and market research.

Ethnographic fieldwork typically involves extended immersion in a community or organization. Central methods include participant observation, where the researcher engages in daily activities while noting behaviors and conversations; interviews, informal conversations, and focus groups; and the collection of documents, artifacts, and visual materials. Researchers strive for thick description—rich, nuanced accounts that situate actions within cultural and historical contexts. Data are analyzed through iterative coding and thematic interpretation to reveal underlying social logics and patterns.

Reflexivity and ethics are integral to ethnography. Researchers reflect on their own role, biases, and the impact of their presence on the setting. Ethical considerations include obtaining informed consent, ensuring confidentiality, minimizing harm, and presenting findings in a fair and non-exploitative manner. Issues of representation, power dynamics, and reciprocity between researcher and community are regularly addressed.

Outputs are narrative and descriptive, often organized as ethnographic monographs or case studies. They emphasize context, meaning, and the complexity of social life, rather than broad generalizations. While ethnography offers deep, holistic insights, its findings can be time-consuming to produce and may have limited generalizability. It remains a foundational approach for understanding cultures, institutions, and everyday practices, including in digital and virtual environments through variants like netnography.