Chapter 7. Ethnographic evidence for practice

Evidence-based practice is a growing paradigm for improving practical results by informing professional recommendations and decision-making with the best available evidence. In social sciences, such as information systems, qualitative research results provide a valuable source of evidence to inform practical recommendations and decision-making. Ethnography is especially powerful because it senses cultural values at play in organizations, societies, and communities. But many ethnographic studies can be too deeply involved, extensive, and time-consuming for practical use. There are some ethnographic methods that provide rapid results. This chapter introduces three such ethnographic methods for rapidly developing evidence for decision-making in practice: Agarian Ethnography, Design Ethnography, and Research-Ethnography. Agarian Ethnography can develop evidence from a small number of intensive interviews. Design Ethnography can develop evidence from comparatively short design engagements. Research-Ethnography can develop evidence from small bodies of published research findings that proceed from diverse epistemologies, research paradigms, and methodologies.