Stalker for Hire - How to be an Engaging Ethnographer
Posted by Jeffrey Henning on Fri, Dec 10, 2010
At the New MR Virtual Festival, Erica Ruyle of Market Strategies International, discussed ethnography. She started off saying, “One of the participants in a recent project told me, ‘What you do is a lot like stalking but it’s not as creepy!’ I found it humorous and at the same time telling about what we do in ethnography. It put a spark in my head.” Here’s Erica’s advice on how to be a polite stalker.
Why “stalk” at all? Erica said, “I am an academically trained anthropologist. Immersion in the native environment is absolutely key for true ethnography.” Observation simply gives the outsider’s perspective; participation provides the insider’s perspective. “We participate, so that we can get a really good feel from the native’s point of view, from the insider’s point of view.” This yields deeper, more accurate research, especially with online research.
Many social media researchers think observation, without participation, is the ethical way to conduct market research. Erica said, “I view it as a cop out to take only the outsider’s perspective.” Online communities are fast-moving cultures, and Erica defies you to come up with a good understanding of them simply by observation. “You can’t assume that these are flat conversations and take them with a ‘what you see is what you get’ attitude.”
In fact, Erica dismisses observational research only as “lurkography”. A lurker listens and watches only. “Lurking has a place in market research, but it is not ethnography. A stalker lurks. De-lurk yourself and become an engaged stalker, a participant. That’s ethnography! The harsh truth about lurking… we think when we lurk we are being smart researchers, faster, cheaper, but by lurking we frighten online communities. They view us like Lovecraft’s lurking fear. We need to tread carefully.”
“Of course,” said Erica, “we need to make sure that we do ethnography, especially online ethnography, with the same rigor as any other research method.” Erica says it is imperative that you declare yourself to be a researcher upon entering a community. Be aware that your presence there changes the online community, and changes yourself – everything becomes somewhat biased as a result, but this is what happens in the real world.
“The one and only time it is okay to lurk is a prelim to gaining a broader understanding of a community.” Study the community, then join it. Work to build rapport and trust with community members. Embrace the community: talk with “gatekeepers” and find a partner from within the community. “Engage, engage, engage! You can’t simply say, ‘Hey, I’m a researcher: let’s talk!’ Invest a piece of yourself in the community. Trust is a two-way street. You want them to be engaged. You need to be just as engaged.”
Are online communities valid? “We often like think to think of online and offline as separate,” Erica said. “The Internet gives you anonymity, but people at the end of the day are still themselves.” Of course, all people lie at times, or wear different masks. “In the real world, people move easily between different roles and cultures. Online versus offline is a false dichotomy.” That said, do seek to make the online offline. When possible, set up phone calls and face to face meetings with community members. If that is to extreme, reach out to them with instant messaging, text messages and webcams.
Erica wrapped up with a quick discussion of analyzing ethnographic materials:
- Data analysis should be taking place throughout the process of data collection in order to gain momentum.
- Look for patterns, connections, similarities or contrasts.
- Spend time getting to know the site and spend thoughtful time on its meaning.
- Code data with a short and concise code frame.
- MR will almost always need to engage in ethnographic rapid assessment procedures.
- Projects can turn into long-term fieldwork; no reason to cut ties to a community – you can go back to do more field work later.
Triangulate data from field notes, interviews, coding and site documents.- Look for “local categories of meaning”.
- Identify the “native point of view” and what is the meaning of the research.
Erica concluded, “As a friendly reminder, I’m still stalking you!”