Unlocking Ethnographic Research: 5 Tips for Recruiting Success

A common deterrent to recommending ethnographic research is the task of finding participants. In the world of qualitative market research, where locating willing and qualified respondents is already a daunting task, ethnographic studies have an extra burden. The observational nature of ethnographic research narrows down the already hard-to-find pool of potential participants. Further, ethnographic market research projects often have small sample sizes (20 participants or fewer in many cases), raising the bar on participant qualification.

How do we find and qualify the right participants for ethnographic research? Instructor Kathryn Korostoff recently shared her real-world tips in a recent Conversations for Research Rockstars podcast episode, “Recruiting Tactics for Ethnographic Research.” But if you don’t have time to watch, we summarized the highlights for you here! We hope you enjoy this brief overview of recommendations for ethnographic research recruitment.

Recruitment Doesn’t Have to Be Scary 

Before we allow recruiting concerns to block us from recommending ethnographic research, let’s refresh on what we know does sometimes work well when recruiting for difficult qualitative research needs. Five recruiting methods, which are sometimes combined, are commonly used for ethnographic research:

1. Convenience Sampling: As market researchers, we often say that this option should be avoided as it is not random sampling and may introduce bias into our research. With ethnographic research, we are looking for depth and  discovery not quantitative measures. Therefore, we are often willing to trade the potential bias of a convenience sample for access to participants we know are authentic and likely open to recruitment. Examples of convenience samples are researching working moms by recruiting them through a local community group, or researching IT managers by recruiting from a company’s recent webinar attendees.
2. On-Site Recruiting: This recruitment method can work well in retail studies (in-store behavior research, for example) and other public-venue research. The participant doesn’t have to jump through hoops to take part in the research, and the researchers can observe with ease.
3. River Sampling: Social media recruitment can be useful in ethnographic research. There are many online communities, interest groups, hobby groups, product review sites, and so on that are accessible either by organic promotion of the research opportunity or by targeting ads to them. This method tends to work best for cases where the research topic is tightly aligned with the site’s topic (for example, recruiting cruise vacation buyers from sites that review cruise ship packages).
4. Specialty Recruiters: These firms usually have access to proprietary databases or use optimized methods to find the right participants. Some specialize in recruiting for qualitative research in general, others specialize by cohort (for example, specializing in luxury shoppers or medical professionals). Specialty recruiters are listed in professional directories like the Insights Association’s PAIR directory and Quirks’ SourceBook.
5. Snowball Sampling: Our stellar participants may know other stellar participants! For example, if we are conducting ethnographic research with business professionals who enjoy fine dining, early participants may be able and willing to share the research invitations with other people like themselves. People with similar interests and lifestyles often cluster, so snowball sampling is a twist on convenience sampling that can be an effective option (especially when doing research with very niche populations).

Qualifying Participants

Now that we have sourced our wonderful sample using one or more of the options above, how do we qualify them individually? In ethnographic research, the most common options are:

1. Distribution/Quotas: Very often in ethnographic research, we will have quotas to fill that ensure both fit for the given project and diversity (such as having quotas by age ranges or household types).
2. Process of Elimination: Just as we may qualify based on which attributes participants do have, we can eliminate based on which attributes they don’t. For example, if we are recruiting on-site at a sports arena, we may say “I’m not going to recruit anyone who has two or more children.”
3. Randomization: Using a random number generator or picking every fifth participant are both examples of randomization. This qualification method helps maintain objectivity and avoids skewing data.
4. Maximum Variation: In this scenario we are seeking a mix of participants with the most diverse attributes from one another. This helps us capture varied perspectives while still staying within the target population. For example, in an ethnographic study about vacuum cleaners, we may want to recruit for extreme diversity in household size; we might require that 30% of our sample is from homes with one person, 30% from homes with five or more people, and the remainder in-between.

One Last Tip

Sometimes, individuals will be qualified and accept our invitation to participate in the research, but then back out at the last minute when the reality of being observed sets in. As ethical professionals we do not pressure people to participate; if they change their minds, it is their choice. This does happen, and we can prepare for the inevitable by over-recruiting. If we need 10 participants for a given study,  depending on the topic and target population, we may need to recruit 12-15 people to reach that goal.

Bottom Line:

Ethnographic research can be a powerful method for discovering and exploring behavior, especially for topics where self-reporting via interviews or surveys are likely to yield biased or superficial results. Let’s not let recruitment worries deter us from recommending ethnographic research until we have truly considered our options. To get more in-depth tips on recruiting for ethnographic research, be sure to watch the related Conversations for Research Rockstars episode. To learn more about ethnographic research overall, check out Ethnographic Research for Customer Insights All Access. Now, let’s rock our next ethnographic research project!