QUALITATIVE methods PARICIPANT OBERVATION

QUALITATIVE methods PARICIPANT OBERVATION

1. non-participant observation

   • researcher observes the group without taking part

2. participant observation

   • researcher takes part in the life of the group while observing it

3. overt observation

   • researcher reveals true identity and purpose to those being studied and asks their permission to observe

4. covert observation

   • researcher conceals their true identity and purpose, usually posing as a genuine member of the group

5. getting in

   • making initial contact with the group may depend on factors such and personal skills, having the right connections, or even pure chance

6. staying in

   • once accepted they are faced with dilemmas such as: they must be involved in the group and its activities to understand it fully. and yet they must be detached from the group so as to remain objective and unbiased

7. getting out

   • the easiest part just to leave however once involved it is tricky to disappear. re-entering once normal world.

8. practical issues in participant observation

   • insight
     • allows researcher to put themselves in their place. 'verstehen' meaning empathy or subjective understanding
   • access
     • 1) groups who engaged in deviant activities may be suspicious of outsiders who come asking questions, but more willing to cooperate with someone who seeks to share their way of life. 2) where members of a group are unaware of the unconscious stereotypes behind their actions, observation may be the only means of covering them
   • flexibility
     • starts with a hypothesis and pre-set questions but can be changed through the process
   • limitations
     • 1) field work is very time consuming, producing large amounts of qualitative data, which can be very hard to analyse and categorise. 2) researcher needs to be sociologically trained. 3) personally stressful and demanding and sometimes dangerous. 4) requires observational and interpersonal skills. 5)

9. theoretical issues in participant observation

   • interpretivism
     • validity through involvement
       • truer picture of how they really live
     • flexibility and grounded theory
       • research can develop and modify their ideas
   • positivism
     • representativeness
       • group studied usually very small. sample often selected haphazardly for example, through a chance encounter with someone who turns out to be a key informant
     • reliability
       • as qualitative data also makes comparisons with other studies difficult
     • bias and lack of objectivity
       • 'going native' over identifying with the group and producing a biased or over sympathetic view of them. breeds loyalty may lead sociologist to conceal sensitive information.
     • lack of validity
       • observer only selects those facts they think are worth recording
     • the hawthrone effect
       • researcher changing the groups behaviour especially in overt studies but also cover (having one more member)
     • structure versus action perspectives
       • ignores large scale that shape behaviour such as class inequality or shared value system