Ethnography and information systems development: Ethnography of, for and within IS development

Ethnography is a style of qualitiative research method which has been discussed in a number of ways in association with the development of software systems. In this paper we identify a number of distinct uses to which ethnography and ethnographies have been put in information systems development: particularly the distinction between ethnographies for IS development and ethnographies of IS development. We also survey some of the recent proposals for integrating ethnographic practice into information systems work: ethnography within IS development. Our main aim in constructing this taxonomy is to serve as a useful framework for positioning our own ideas on the relationship between ethnography and IS development derived largely from our own ongoing research work in the area of software prototyping. The paper concludes with a discussion of two polar perspectives taken from the history of ethnographic studies which we feel are useful in framing the modern-day positioning of ethnography and IS development as well as highlighting some of the tensions involved in contemporary IS development. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.