Participant Observation Disadvantages

Participant Observation Disadvantages

1. Reliability

   • So much depends on the personal skills and characteristics of a lone researcher, that it is unlikely that any other investigator would be able to replicate the study.
   • As it is qualitative data, it is hard to compare to other studies.

2. Practical

   • Very time consuming e.g. Whyte's study took him 4 years to complete
   • Researcher needs to be trained so as to be able to recognise aspects of a situation that are sociologically significant and worth further attention
   • Personally stressful and demanding - especially covert

3. Ethical

   • Deceiving people in order to obtain information about them
   • Participating in illegal or immoral activities

4. Representativeness

   • The group studied is usually very small and 'the sample' is often selected randomly e.g. by a chance encounter with someone who turns out to be a key informant