participant observation

participant observation

1. disadvantages

   • unreliable
     • unscientific
     • no fixed procedure
     • not standardised
     • not replicable
   • representativeness
     • one-off investigations
     • no generalisations
     • not representative
   • invalid
   • hawthorne effect
     • presence of researcher influences decisions
   • going native
     • observer identify with group which effects actions
     • may not understand meaning correctly
   • unethical
     • deliberately misleads group
     • no informed consent
     • witness or participate in illegal activities

2. advantages

   • validity
     • naturalistic
       • group is observed in natural setting
       • unaffected by observer presence
       • true account of behaviour
     • authenticity
       • account of worldview
       • private face, more likely to emerge
     • open to research process
       • fluid and flexible
       • researcher goes with the flow
       • allows ideas
       • way of studying the group

3. definition

   • observer finds a role in a group which allows them to be studied
   • recordes in field notes
   • years to complete
   • covert or overt

4. why interpretivists use it

   • allows meanings behind actions to be discovered
   • produces valid qualitative data
   • sees what people do not what they say they do