God help ethnographers

I was rather disturbed on Wednesday to find myself face-to-face - at a certain London institution - with someone who called himself a 'consultant' in the area of new media.

What was so disturbing? He seemed to think that ethnography was about asking questions of people in focus groups. In fact, he seemed to think that ethnography was a trendy relabelling of market research. Help! Real ethnographers and anthropologists out there will know that the mere mention of the words 'focus group' will bring forth a reaction not unlike exposing a vampire to sunlight, garlic or a crucifix.