Ethnographic Research and Cultural Competency

Aha will design and implement ethnographic research for:

• Cultural Competency Assessment to get a snapshot of how you are currently doing in this realm
• Studies of ethnic populations or subcultures for the design or improvement of programs
• Organizational assessment or climate assessment to determine the state of an organization's culture and what shifts may be required to support an inclusive environment
• Understanding a particular population or customer base in terms of motivations, behaviors, needs, issues

Ethnographic research originates from the field of anthropology and is known for the participant observation approach. Participant observation includes a range of activity from observation to full participation. It is the approach to use to collect people's stories and their experiences.

Ethnographic research is a form of qualitative research that allows for discovery, for uncovering unmet needs and unintended impacts. It is an excellent approach when you don't have much information and want to get a sense of the key patterns. It also works well with quantitative methods.

Use ethnographic research to answer the question: what is going on here? Then use quantitative methods to confirm that this behavior generalizes to the whole population you are trying to understand.

Call 301-657-2934 or email to for further information.