studio 6 | identifying research methods

1.

Ethnographic research is a method of study which involves the field observation and qualitative analysis of human behavior. While ethnographic research can be applied to virtually any kind of sociological or anthropological subject of inquiry, there are distinct advantages and disadvantages to using the method.

1. Background

   • There are various types of ethnographic research which may be employed to study human populations, beliefs and customs. Some of these include macro-ethnographic research, which entails studying a larger group of people; and micro-ethnographic research, which involves observing a smaller sample of humans and practices.

   Advantages

   • One of the more widely cited benefits of conducting ethnographic research is that due to the first-hand observation that is involved, usually conducted over an extended period of time, the research can provide extensive and in-depth findings about human behavior. In addition, because ethnographic research relies on observation rather than examinations or predetermined tests, the research can evolve and explore new lines of inquiry.

   Disadvantages

   • Due to the fact that ethnographic research relies on observation, it often takes a longer period of time to produce thorough and reliable results. Also, because the research is reliant upon the observations of just one or a few people, the conclusions about what the human subjects were doing, saying or feeling could be altered by the observers' cultural bias or ignorance.

     from http://www.ehow.com/facts_7603988_advantages-disadvantages-ethnographic-research.html

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     to put it simply, ethnography is monitoring and observing human behavior without them knowing. This allows for natural behavior. This ties in with persuasive computing as this is technology that naturally fits into our lives.

2.Three different systems described in the paper are the 3 games/ activities noted down. One was called 'can you see me now' (CYSMN), the other was 'ynle roy all around you' (URAY) and lastly was savannah.  Essentially all 3 used gps tracking , wifi and text messages but used a different ways. In CYSMN it was used as a way of communicating in the game, but used the real world as a playground. URAY followed on from this to which they connected the real world city to a parallel on line 3D city. Lastly savannah  used the gps and wifi networking to search around a field , exploring the terrain and finding information on how lions survived.

3. The disadvantages of using ethnographic user studies are that , because it used natural behaviours , every one will act in different ways and so this will cause problems in replicating the test each time. Also because it rely s on observation, the tests and results will take longer to obtain.

The advantages are that because it rely's on observation the results can be very detailed. Also it can open new doors in that people may find flaws , or even improve on a system.