Participate observation

Participate observation

1. About participate observation

   • researcher participates in group activities
   • Can be covert or overt
   • recorded by field notes
   • researcher has to start with open mind

2. Interpretivists

   • like participate observation as they want to discover social meanings of actions
   • Use qualitative data and open ended methods to produce valid data
   • participation in activities allow understanding of actions
     • Positivists
       • Positivists believe that PO lacks reliability and representativeness therefore dislikes the method

3. Advantages

   • Naturalistic approach
     • making group act more like wise making the data more valid
   • time period
     • due to the time period being long researcher can establish what is the private face
   • Openess
     • PO are open and flexible directed by the subject rather then researcher
       • making interviewer effect unlikely
   • Insight in group
     • sharing experiences can get a more valid authentic picture
   • Richly detailed data
   • easier to study closed groups
   • Flexibilty

4. Disadvantages

   • Unrepresentative
     • It is hard to put on a bigger sample
     • often one of samples on a in depth topic
   • Unreliable
     • Its hard to replicate as unstructured qualitative data
   • Hawthorne effect
     • observers presence can effect participates reactions.
   • Native
     • interviewer may be affected by the group, interpretving actions wrong
   • Ethical issues
     • participates aren't usually given information about observation
       • Example humprheys study for gay sex in public toilets
     • Covert observer may have to witness illegal actions
     • As in a group often difficult to remain anonymous.
   • Getting in
     • hard to get into a group for example a gang is hard to get in without finding the key member
     • Staying in
       • If covert observation- you have to be there a while, this may effect your memory and affect validity
     • Getting out
       • Often hard to know whether you are in or out and difficult to leave to remain secretity