One Small Step for Ethnography, One Giant Leap for Banking and Insurance

Abstract

In this presentation we argue that in many regulated industries such as banking, finance, and insurance, a post qualitative vs. quantitative world is not yet a reality. In such an environment, advanced analytics could be likened to being in its teenage years, while behavioral research is still in its infancy. Big data primarily drives our metrics, but in such a highly digitized and individualized culture, we know that ethnography is the missing piece of the puzzle. This means that as social scientists we must be the loudest (and sometimes lone) voice calling to leverage employees who are trained in these skill sets and incorporate these methods into our work. Slow and steady wins the race and our wins look different when compared with companies that already have been convinced of the value and don't have to do as much work to incorporate them into existing analysis. We have found that becoming EPIC members has been a turning point for our own growth mindset. Our industries are still primarily relationship‐based, and for those analysts new to regulated industries, EPIC is the ideal community to help propel the legitimization of a permanent place for qualitative methods in our data‐driven, highly regulated industry.