This is immersive research. Sure, we will do regular focus groups and quantitative studies, but the ethnographic aspect is the key. Ethnographic research is simply trained observation… knowing what to look for in a group of people as well as individuals. Most research never gets the chance to understand the complete context that the chosen subject has in the target’s life… you have them for a couple of hours, they tell you everything they know… and then they go back to their “normal” life.

The power in Project Looking Glass is that we are combining traditional research with long term observation in order to see the total picture of their normal life. We need to make and market products and services for a senior’s normal life… that’s where they live, love and spend.

“The adequate study of culture, our own and those on the opposite side of the globe, can press on to fulfillment only as we learn today from the humanities as well as from the scientists.” –Ruth Benedict

“Ethnography literally means ‘a portrait of a people.’ An ethnography is a written description of a particular culture - the customs, beliefs, and behavior - based on information collected through fieldwork.” -Marvin Harris and Orna Johnson, 2000.

To gently live side-by-side in a community as a part of the culture is the only way to discover the nuances, private and everyday habits, challenges and hopes of those coming, those leaving and those emerging as icons in that society. Honestly opening up comes only after trust and acceptance is established. These are the qualities which separate pure research findings and revelations from surface ones.