Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Observations - Coggle Diagram
Observations
Covert Observation
-
The British Sociological Association advise that you should only use covert participant observation when there's no other way of obtaining the data
Nigel Fielding (1981) used covert observation when researching the National Front (a far right-wing political party) because he believed he would encounter hostility if they knew he was a sociologist
Participant Observation
-
Strengths
-
-
Gets the researcher right to where the action is - so they can check out the dynamics of a group from close up
If it's covert, people can't mislead the researcher
Weaknesses
-
Ethical and practical problems with getting in, staying in and getting out of the group
-
-
-
The researcher may get too involved and find it hard to stand back and objectively observe the group
It's hard work, time consuming and expensive
-
Overt Observation
-
Beverley Skeggs (1991) used overt observation when studying female sexuality among students at a college