posted by Adri
Ethnographic films (documentaries) are an emerging research method used to understand culture, consumer behavior, and social constructs that transcend mere data and can provide a rich understanding of a subject and its environment. Here’s an interview with the Chief Technology Officer of the UW College of Education, Scott Macklin discussing Documentaries as a research method and how it applies to his latest film: Masizakhe.
Please enable Javascript and Flash to view this Blip.tv video.(note: we showed a rough cut extract in class, this is the final version
We used a similar approach when looking at the $100 laptop. The XO laptop (a.k.a. $100 laptop) is an innovative break-through device designed to revolutionize the way children learn in even the most rural and poor conditions.
The computer is embedded with social media tools such as a camera, a music making software and its mesh network that connects and shares with other computers. However, little attention has been given to how this device is actually being used. We propose the making of a documentary as an ethnographic study to discover the true impact of the XO (version 1) laptop. Here are the slides from our presentation.
For more information on the XO laptop here are a few links
Tags: documentaries, film making, Scott Macklin, South Africa, UW
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So I am wondering, in order to give a little more rigorous grist to these flipped thoughts, if anyone is interested in spending some time with a couple of texts. I’ve been thinking about Astruc’s notion of le camera-stylo in the context of documentaries for research and playing around with the notion of Legitimate Peripheral Participation (Lave and Wenger). Jean Lave has a new text coming out, “Apprenticeship in Critical Ethnographic Practice.” Reading group anyone?
Astruc, Alexandre. “The Birth of a New Avant-Garde: Le Camera-Stylo.” In Film and Literature: An Introduction and Reader. Ed. Timothy Corrigan. Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1999. Pp. 158-162.
Lave, J. and Wenger, E. Situated Learning: Legitimate Peripheral Participation. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UK, 1991
Two more books I used for my research:
(1) Doing Visual Ethnography (2nd ed) by Sarah Pink
(2) Ethnographic Film by Karl G Heider
Also, notice that in the July Adage they call for the need for new ethnographic research as a way to really undertsand the consumer in their context and not just an isolated purchase decision. There’s a lot of buzz in the business world on ethnographic research.
Check this article (http://tinyurl.com/5eu3wu) from The Daily Telegraph (March, 2007):
Big brands turning to Big Brother
Questionnaires and focus groups aren’t enough – now companies are having volunteers filmed for days on end to see what makes customers really tick, finds Stephen Hoare