Named by Gilbert Ryle (The Thinking of Thoughts, 1968) and developed into an ethnographic method by Clifford Geertz (Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture, 1973).
Records what people do together with what their actions mean inside their own setting, producing an account an outsider can read and act on.
When to reach for it
Behavior in a customer group, a team, or a new market makes no sense from outside, and the numbers explain only the surface.
How it runs
- Observe in the setting and take fast, literal notes.
- Within a day, add what each act meant to the people involved.
- Keep behavior, their reading, and your reading in separate layers.
- Look for at least one case that contradicts the interpretation.
- Show the write-up to someone inside and listen to their corrections.
Where it sits in SOLVE eX
Go to the source
- Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture, The Interpretation of Cultures, 1973
- The Thinking of Thoughts: What Is Le Penseur Doing?, University Lectures, University of Saskatchewan, 1968