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240 CHAPTER 9 Ethnography

Greater risk of misinterpretation

Complete Complete
participant observer

Greater risk of losing perspective, “going native”
FIGURE 9.1
The spectrum of roles for ethnographic researchers.
Data from Gold, R., 1958. Roles in sociological field observations. Social Forces 36 (3), 217–223.
deal less preliminary work to build the groundwork for a study. You understand con-
text and background that would be unclear to a newcomer, and group members might
be less hesitant to respond to your questions. Even if you are open, and have dis-
closed that you are doing research, this may be seen with less skepticism.
If you find yourself intrigued by the ease of working with a group of which you
are already a member, you would be well advised to reconsider this strategy as an au-
tomatic first choice. Your participation in a group may lead to bias and preinformed
opinions—even worse than the complete participant who has “gone native,” you are
native. You may have deeply ingrained habits, opinions, and preferences of which
you are not aware. Furthermore, you lack the fresh perspective associated with learn-
ing about a new topic and problem domain.
These concerns aside, group membership may, on occasions, lead to the identi-
fication of interesting opportunities for research: see the Ethnographic Research of
Your Own Community sidebar for one example.

ETHNOGRAPHIC RESEARCH OF YOUR OWN COMMUNITY
In an ideal research world, you study groups or communities simply because
they are interesting and in need of better understanding. In the reality of HCI
research, you are often asked to study a specific group of people or work
environment because:
• there are problems which need to be understood or improved upon, and you
have relevant experience;
• there are problems or interesting research questions that you are aware
of in a group of which you are already a member, and you could help to
understand and address those problems.
Sometimes, you stumble across great ethnographic studies accidentally.
In 1998, Jenny Preece, an HCI researcher, tore her anterior cruciate ligament
(ACL) in her knee. She joined an online community called Bob's ACL Bulletin
board to learn more about her injury, along with various treatments. She became
a member of the group and later found the level of empathic support to be
fascinating.