A Handbook on Ethnographic Futures Research (First Edition: Version A)

While intelligent concern over future possibilities is as old as man -- and indeed stems from a capacity unique to man -- the systematic exploration of alternative futures in the middle or longer range is relatively recent in man's history on earth, and the formalization of a futures field of inquiry is only fifteen or twenty years old. Probably more than half of the professional literature in what one could loosely call "Futures Studies" or "Futures Research" is less than five years old. As this literature explodes, some scholars have pointed to inadequate methodology as a major obstacle impeding the progress of the futures field. I concur. This Handbook is one scholar's attempt to contribute to the improvement of this methodology by offering an alternative approach, namely "Ethnographic Futures Research", or EFR, which is essentially ethnography adapted to the needs and constraints of Futures Research.

I have been involved in Futures Research only since 1976, and first conceptualized and used EFR in 1977. I have by now employed EFR in a variety of teaching and research projects, either alone or in collaboration with colleagues or students (see Bibliography under Aguirre et al., ASEAN Scholars, and 1xtor). At the risk of committing the academic sin of exuberance, I must say that it has been great fun, and every bit as rewarding as some rather interesting experiences I have had in conventional ethnography. Each project has taught me something new about how to improve EFR as a method, and about how to teach EFR more responsibly, effectively, and economically. Everything thus learned has been incorporated into this Handbook.