Ethnography

Abstract

Ethnography is a method for describing and modeling phenomena that have occurred in a targeted field. Data collecting through participant observation includes taking field notes, conducting interviews, and having people write self-observation reports. In the analysis of data, discovering the patterns of phenomena which emerge iteratively is important. Describing and modeling the phenomena involves determining and defining phenomena patterns which are discovered and accumulated on a conceptual level and systematically associating them. Ethnography has its origins in cultural anthropology and has developed within social science. The need for ethnography in informatics has emerged because artifacts developed through rapid technological innovations have been introduced in various fields, and induced those involved in the fields to change their activities. Ethnography is a useful method to describe and model circumstances in which peoples actions and behavior in a field unfold in a complex relation to artifacts.