Scaling Ethnography for Policy and Practice: What Works and Lessons Learned: Part II

CHAIR: MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI)

SINGH PUNI, Tirath and MILLER, Christine (SCAD) Breaking Barriers: Applying Ethnographic Tools and Service Design to Integrate Community-Based Research in Medical Education

HERMANNS, Kwela (SCAD) and GAGE, Marty (Lextant) What Industry and Education Really Want: Lextant & SCAD Partnership on User-Centered Design Research Training

MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) Towards a Method for Scaling Ethnography by Integrating Anthropology and Engineering

DISCUSSANT: EDBERG, Mark (GWU)

 

For centuries ethnography has offered insights into culture, human behavior, language, social systems, and technology. Yet, they have often encountered barriers in translating their findings into policy and practice. In contrast, other disciplines (engineering and medicine) have proven methods for moving know-how into practice. Here the transfer of ethnographic findings into practice will be treated as a problem of scaling to practice, i.e., showing what applies to one or a few may also apply to many. Participants will report lessons learned and what works from their direct experience in scaling ethnography for business, education, public health, and product development.

 

SINGH PUNI, Tirath and MILLER, Christine (SCAD) Breaking Barriers: Applying Ethnographic Tools and Service Design to Integrate Community-Based Research in Medical Education. This study examines how ethnographic tools, applied through the lens of Service Design, can assist the medical school leadership of a satellite campus of a state university medical school to redesign their curriculum to incorporate community-based participatory research (CBR). By using mixed methods approaches such as contextual interviews, surveys, and co-creation workshops combined with journey mapping and blueprinting, the leadership can develop actionable strategies to integrate community research, fostering a deeper connection between academic structures and community needs. This approach highlights the potential for scaling ethnographic insights to reform curricula and educational institutions training future medical doctors.

 

HERMANNS, Kwela (SCAD) and GAGE, Marty (Lextant) What Industry and Education Really Want: Lextant & SCAD Partnership on User-Centered Design Research Training. A collaboration between SCAD and Lextant resulted in 1) curriculum re-designs to reflect actionable research and analysis approaches developed by Lextant in-house, 2) the creation of a textbook and 3) a stand-alone Certification in Design Research & Insight Translation for students. The session proposal falls into the panel’s focus on Educational Policy and Practice: Scaling ethnographic insights. The collaboration included shadowing and on-site participatory co-creation. The resulting curriculum redesign enables students to contribute to real-world problem solving in diverse sectors. This large-scale learning intervention constitutes a unique education / industry partnership within the US.

 

MORRIS, Richard W. (MGI) Towards a Method for Scaling Ethnography by Integrating Anthropology and Engineering. Here the author will identify recurring themes and assess them through the lenses of applied anthropology, praxis theory, and the Engineering Design Process (EDP), i.e., identify a problem, research solutions, pick the optimal solution, build a prototype, test-evaluate, implement pilot solutions, monitor and redesign (as needed), expand what works. Drawing from cognitive anthropology and discourse analysis, the author will evaluate the methods for scaling according to expressivity, precision, accuracy, relevance, endogenous acceptability, exogenous validity, and reduction to practice. He will propose a method for scaling ethnography to policy and practice.

Speakers

• Richard Morris, MGI
• Kwela Hermanns
• Christine Miller, Savannah College of Art and Design, Professor of Design Management
• Mark Edberg, George Washington University, Professor