Brandeis Online
RUCD 145
Contextual Research
Contextual research allows researchers and organizations to gain richer insights into user goals, needs, and challenges by bringing the researcher directly into the user’s real-world environment. It draws from the social science-based method, ethnography, and has been adapted for product and service design.
This course emphasizes the role of the researcher as the primary data collection instrument. Students will hone skills like observation, reflexivity, and storytelling. Through hands-on practice and guided exercises, they will learn to engage with and interpret real-world contexts, conducting their own field research to apply these essential skills.