The Ethnographic Model

The Ethnographic Model, is similar to a survey in which the researcher enters into the culture of the group he wishes to create a product for, and uses questions and interviews to try to understand media engagement from the perspective of the group. These questions and interviews centre around:

- The focus on the domestic context of reception of media texts.

- The element of cultural competence.

- Technologies.

The first of these stresses that media is often constructed by the audiences domestic environment, taking into account things like: income, control of the remote and the gendered nature of watching TV.

The second runs along the lines of genre gender appeal, for example soaps for women, who enjoy the drama and characterization of everyday people, and action/adventure programs for men, who like it when things go "boom".

The third and final criteria of the interviews centers around the way we engage with hardware. There is a strong gender divide, with computers and complex technology being labeled "Boys' toys".