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Limitations of Ethnography

publish date: 2026/06/06 20:00:16.411599 UTC

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Which of the following are recognized limitations of ethnography as a requirements elicitation technique? Select all that apply.

It cannot always identify organizational or domain requirements

It requires expensive specialized video recording equipment

It always produces mathematically precise requirement statements

It should be used to complement other elicitation approaches rather than as the sole technique

Its focus on end-user work means it may not identify new features that should be added to the system

Correct Answer

(1) Its focus on end-user work means it may not identify new features that should be added to the system

(2) It cannot always identify organizational or domain requirements

(3) It should be used to complement other elicitation approaches rather than as the sole technique

Explanation

Ethnography's limitations: (1) Its end-user focus means new desirable features may be missed; (2) Organizational and domain requirements may not be discoverable through observation; (3) It is not a complete approach on its own and should complement other techniques such as use case analysis.

Reference

Software Engineering, Ian Sommerville, 9th edition

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