TY - JOUR AB - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to offer a critical reflection on the experience and challenges associated with conducting a family ethnography along with methodological guidance that generates insights for future researchers.Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a family ethnography as a methodological approach to investigate family consumption in context with a view towards capturing detailed consumption experiences.Findings A family ethnography is a valuable but challenging methodology to follow in its preparation, practice and publishing. Despite these challenges, they are surmountable with some lateral thinking to conduct methodologically and ethically sound ethnographic research.Research limitations/implications The method, challenges and guidance offered here can be used to make the most of ethnography as a methodological approach to family research.Practical implications The critical reflection of the experience and challenges of conducting a family ethnography along with the practical advice offered here may guide those considering using ethnographic research.Originality/value Contributions include a critical reflection on the experience and challenges of conducting a family ethnography, ethical and methodological guidelines to overcome them and operational guidelines for their use. VL - 24 IS - 1 SN - 1352-2752 DO - 10.1108/QMR-03-2019-0050 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-03-2019-0050 AU - Nash Cathriona AU - O'Malley Lisa AU - Patterson Maurice PY - 2020 Y1 - 2020/01/01 TI - Experiencing family ethnography: challenges, practicalities and reflections on practice T2 - Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 97 EP - 112 Y2 - 2024/05/05 ER -