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Participant Observation - Coggle Diagram
Participant Observation
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Gaining Entry
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Examples
Humphreys acted as “lookout” for men having gay sex in order to gain their trust without actively joining in
Dick Hobbins acted as a detective (using links with a detective he knew) and gained information on relationships between criminals and detectives
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Positivist POV
strengths
Provides information which can be used to construct relevant and meaningful questions for questionnaires
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participating online
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As a general rule they tend to stay in the background so as not to influence the behaviour of those they observe
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Validity and reliability
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often seen as an unreliable method
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Relies heavily on the qualities of the researcher - will affect results as well as how they interpret the results
Meanings and context
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opportunity to discover the meanings which direct their behaviour and make sense of their experience
People often live with contradictory views and participant observation mean you can observe these contradictions
Covert and Overt
Covert
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Advantages
Group sees observer as “one of then” and is more likely to behave normally and reveal more information (more valid research)
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Overt
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Advantages
It can lead to the development of key informants who go out of their way to assist in the research (a member of the group beings studied that has a special relationship with the researcher
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Time, money and personal cost
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Requires dedication, stamina and courage
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Generalisation
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these findings can be used to question or support generalisations from larger studies or they can produce fresh insight which can then be investigated on a larger scale