ABSTRACT
The role of humans in software development has been
identified as an area in need of further research in software
engineering. Due to the complexity of the task of under-
standing human behavior, a need for qualitative methods
has been identified: statistical and other quantitative
methods are not sufficient for this task.[1] Ethnography
contributes here, as its main strength is in exploring and
illuminating the in situ practice where software engineers
interpret, appropriate, and implement the methods, techni-
ques, and processes of the trade. This is done from the point
of view of the members of the study. Within software
engineering, ethnography was first identified as an impor-
tant method in relation to requirements engineering,
thereafter as an important research approach for better
understanding software processes, organization, and test-
ing. The contexts in which requirements engineering, soft-
ware processes, organization, and testing take place are a
human activity system where the problem owners are peo-
ple. Therefore software engineers need to be sensitive to
how people understand the world around them, how they
interact, and how the sociopolitics of the workplace affects
their actions.[2]
Ethnography is a research approach taken from sociol-
ogy, with its roots in anthropology. Today’s understanding
of ethnography in software engineering is, besides its roots,
also influenced by its historical development in computer-
supported cooperative work (CSCW), human-computer
interaction (HCI), and participatory design (PD). What
counts as ethnography and good ethnographic methodol-
ogy are both highly contested.
