Methods

Methods

1. Observations

   • Covert observation- when the group are unaware they’re being observed
     • Participant- infiltrates the group, becomes one of them and joins daily activity’s (e.g James Patrick and ‘Glasgow gang’
       • Non-participant- observing from the sidelines, the researcher is completely separate from what’s being observed and plays no part in what’s going “a flay on the wall’ analogy is used (e.g Laud Humphreys, tearoom trade)
   • Overt observation-when the group is aware they’re being observed/studied
     • Participant- researcher participates in activities of the group (Barker’s ‘making of the moonies’
       • Non-participant- watching from the ‘sidelines’ where the researcher doesn’t get involved (Bain and Taylor cal centre workers)
   • Verstehen- Max Weber’s term for studying human behaviour, the German word ‘to understand’
   • Ethnographic study
   • Gatekeeper may be a problem
   • John Howard Griffin- ‘Black like me’ study
   • Guilty knowledge- hearing/seeing something you shouldn’t
   • Going native- the loss of objectivity and simply becoming a member of the group
   • Strengths
     • Participant- experiment, gets a ‘real’ feel for what’s going on. Gets the real truth, can dig deep, dynamics can develop and it’s useful when researching difficult areas

2. Sampling

   • Population- the whole group you’re studying e.g everyone in your year group
     • Sampling frame- a list of everyone in the population e.g a registration list of everyone in your year group
       • Sample- the group of people taken from the sampling frame with whom you actually do the research e.g. person in every 0 from your year group