Ethnographic Research at the Flea Market

You know those times I wrote about getting my creative muse stirring by visiting the flea market? Who could forget this one trip? It was my biggest inspiration.

While reading my current text book, which cost me upwards of $110.00, I discovered that these trips I've been making to the flea market to glean some knowledge on material for content had an actual name. I know, right? Crazy, but it's called Ethnographic Research.

The people who do this for a living are called Ethnographers. They conduct research, perform analyses on the data they collect, and report out their findings to decision makers. Unlike myself, one who designs computer applications to assist in the processing of such data, these folks get to do all the fun stuff.

Why do they do this research and who the hell would pay them to do it? Well, they don't actually do this research at the flea market! They do it at retail stores and super markets. They work for or they are hired by commercial organizations who wish to study people and their behaviors in hopes of gaining innovative ideas in transforming and improving their products or brands. I do it so I have something to write about. But, hey, if someone wants to pay me to do it? Sign me up.

Imagine that!

Had I known about Ethnography or that it even existed, I would have used it in my 2015 A-Z Challenge.

Have you run across new terms which help describe some of your idiosyncratic behaviors?



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