Preparation for Feb. 11:
Read & Review
- OUE, chapter 9: “Field Visits: Learning from Observation” (pp. 211-242).
- Lee, R. M. (2000), Unobtrusive methods in social research, Open University Press, Philadelphia, PA. — Skim the table of contents and several chapters for an overview of unobtrusive methods.
- Ross, J. (2013), Becoming a Spy: Covert Naturalistic Observation, UXmatters.
- Mack, N., et al. (2005), Participation Observation, from “Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide”, Family Health International. — A thorough overview of participant observation.
- Krages II, B. P. (2006) The Photographer’s Right: Your Rights and Remedies When Stopped or Confronted for Photography. — An attorney’s explanation of the ethics and law of observation and documentation.
- (2009) Ethical Standards, Item 6: Informed Consent, International Visual Studies Association Code of Research Ethics and Guidelines. — Addresses issues related to multimedia recordings.
- VIDEO: Design Ethnography, research, design & development firm Central describes ethnographic research behind their “Future of Fish” project (2008). [4:03]
- VIDEO: Getting People to Talk: An Ethnography & Interviewing Primer, IIT Institute of Design primer video (2008). [33:14]
Optional Readings & Resources
- Field Visits (Elsevier UOE textbook companion topic).
- VIDEO: What People are Really Doing, IIT Institute of Design primer video (2009). [20:56]
- Ross, J. (2012), Why Are Contextual Inquiries So Difficult?, UXmatters.
- Ross, J. (2014), Participatory Observation, UXmatters.
- Weber, J. & Cheng, J. (2013), Making the Most of Ethnographic Research, UX Magazine.
- Blomberg, J., Burrell, M., Guest, G. (2002), An ethnographic approach to design (pp. 964-986), from Jacko J. A., Sears A. (eds.), The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies and Emerging Applications, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.: Mahwah, New Jersey. — A long, but classic overview.
- VIDEO: Deb Roy: The birth of a word, TED Talk. (2011) [19:52] — In an extreme but fascinating example of an ethnographic study, an MIT researcher builds “by far the world’s largest home video collection ever made” (200 terabytes) to understand patterns leading up to his son’s language skills development.