Question: With all the investment in big data and analytics, what is happening with qualitative research demand?
Answer: An interest in deep-dive qual. Data-centric organizations are still embracing qual, but when they do it, they want it to be rigorous, to really go past the surface. And that often means ethnography. How did I reach this conclusion? By considering information from two sources:
- Job post trends. In my ongoing analysis of Market Research & Insights job posting trends, I see that when jobs requiring “big data” skills also mention qualitative, it is sometimes specified as “ethnography.” But rarely as “focus groups.” Sometimes these ethnography-mentioning job posts also have an intersection to UX research.
- Conversations with Research Rockstar clients. In conversations with several training and staffing clients, including those from leading global brands, I have learned that they no longer do focus groups but still value qualitative insights. For some, that means more scalable, online qualitative research methods. For others, it means in-person ethnography.
Personally, I appreciate the interest in ethnographic research. As an observational methodology, it mitigates the known risks of asking questions.
Unfortunately, there’s a problem. Even at market research industry conferences, the term “ethnography” is often used incorrectly. Let’s be precise: both for ourselves and our clients. Let’s use the actual definition of ethnography. In this episode, I present the factual definition of ethnographic research and even give you a little pop quiz with examples. Enjoy!
Please share this video with any colleagues who might want some information on ethnographic research. And if you think the video has value, please do like and subscribe on YouTube! Prefer podcasts? Also available on iTunes.
Sincerely,
