Participant Observation Essay
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONS
Definitions
The word participant observation was derived from the word participate and observe, which means the researcher using participant observation will participate and observe at the same time of the group being studied, in which it was historically associated with ethnography. Participant Observation was created during late 19th century as an ethnographic field method for the study of small, homogeneous cultures (Tedlock, 2009, in Denzin and Lincoln, 2009). It is also originally developed as a fieldwork technique by anthropologists such as Malinowski and Boas, and by researcher in urban studies (Bray, 2008). Participant observation is one of the qualitative methods of gathering data in which the researcher becomes a participant in the social process being studied (Veal, 2006), with the objectives to better understand the study population and get the related information. The researcher using participant observation seeks to immerse him or herself in the daily lives of the group being studied, to the point that they become a member of the observed group and do not tell others that their prime …show more content…
There may be a problem for the researcher in gaining the group’s confidence or trust (getting into the group) and maintaining it (staying in the group), especially if criminal and other deviant activities are involved. Failure to take part or fit in these deviant activities may results in the group’s loss of confidence and trust, and the effective end of the research (Browne, 2005). Finally, there is no real way of checking the findings of a participant observation study, since there is no evidence apart from the observations of the researcher , and what one researcher might regard as important may be missed or seen as unimportant by another (Browne,
Definitions
The word participant observation was derived from the word participate and observe, which means the researcher using participant observation will participate and observe at the same time of the group being studied, in which it was historically associated with ethnography. Participant Observation was created during late 19th century as an ethnographic field method for the study of small, homogeneous cultures (Tedlock, 2009, in Denzin and Lincoln, 2009). It is also originally developed as a fieldwork technique by anthropologists such as Malinowski and Boas, and by researcher in urban studies (Bray, 2008). Participant observation is one of the qualitative methods of gathering data in which the researcher becomes a participant in the social process being studied (Veal, 2006), with the objectives to better understand the study population and get the related information. The researcher using participant observation seeks to immerse him or herself in the daily lives of the group being studied, to the point that they become a member of the observed group and do not tell others that their prime …show more content…
There may be a problem for the researcher in gaining the group’s confidence or trust (getting into the group) and maintaining it (staying in the group), especially if criminal and other deviant activities are involved. Failure to take part or fit in these deviant activities may results in the group’s loss of confidence and trust, and the effective end of the research (Browne, 2005). Finally, there is no real way of checking the findings of a participant observation study, since there is no evidence apart from the observations of the researcher , and what one researcher might regard as important may be missed or seen as unimportant by another (Browne,