Ethnographic Research
In interviews, buyers said price mattered most. Then Meera spent the first week of term at the pilot campus's library gate and canteen, watching real handovers. Buyers barely haggled. Instead, almost every one of them flipped through the pages before paying.
The rule
Watch what people do where they do it; words and actions differ.
Ethnographic research means observing people in their own setting, doing the real task, instead of asking them about it in a meeting room. People forget details, tidy up their stories and don't notice their own habits. Watching catches what they would never think to mention.
Common forms:
- Field observation: watch the activity where it happens, such as handovers at the library gate.
- Contextual inquiry: sit with one person while they do the task and ask short questions as they go. "What are you checking there?"
- Diary study: users record their experience over days or weeks, for things too spread out to watch, like hunting for a full book list across the first month.
What Meera saw at the handovers:
- Buyers flipped pages looking for highlighting and scribbles, which no listing mentioned.
- Many checked the edition on the copyright page before paying.
- Nearly every payment was made by phone, standing at the gate.
The insight: how marked-up a book is matters more than listings let sellers say. That led to a simple "how marked is it?" choice on every listing.
Watching comes with duties: say who you are, ask before observing anyone closely, never photograph people or their screens without permission, and keep your notes anonymous.
The shortcut
Keep two columns: what I saw and what I think it means. Never mix them while observing. Afterwards, compare the first column with what people said in interviews; the gaps are where insights hide.
Saw
A buyer flips through every page of a physics book for two minutes before paying.
Drills
Answer fast — trust the rule.
Why observe handovers instead of just interviewing more buyers?
Which note belongs in the "what I saw" column?
Meera wants to learn how first-years hunt for books across their whole first month. Which method fits best?
Which is an ethical way to observe handovers?
Remember
- Watch what people do where they do it; words and actions differ.
- Two columns: what I saw, what I think it means. Then compare with what people said.
- Trap: mixing observations with interpretations, or observing without consent.