Search for notes by fellow students, in your own course and all over the country.
Browse our notes for titles which look like what you need, you can preview any of the notes via a sample of the contents. After you're happy these are the notes you're after simply pop them into your shopping cart.
Title: Participant Observations
Description: Participant observation refers to a form of sociological research methodology in which the researcher takes on a role in the social situation under observation. The social researcher immerses herself in the social setting under study, getting to know key actors in that location in a role which is either covert or overt, although in practice, the researcher will often move between these two roles. The aim is to experience events in the manner in which the subjects under study also experience these events. Sociologists who employ participant observation as a research tool aim to discover the nature of social reality by understanding the actor's perception, understanding and interpretation of that social world. Whilst observing and experiencing as a participant, the sociologist must retain a level of objectivity in order to understand, analyse and explain the social world under study. These notes look at two main types of participant observation; covert and overt.
Description: Participant observation refers to a form of sociological research methodology in which the researcher takes on a role in the social situation under observation. The social researcher immerses herself in the social setting under study, getting to know key actors in that location in a role which is either covert or overt, although in practice, the researcher will often move between these two roles. The aim is to experience events in the manner in which the subjects under study also experience these events. Sociologists who employ participant observation as a research tool aim to discover the nature of social reality by understanding the actor's perception, understanding and interpretation of that social world. Whilst observing and experiencing as a participant, the sociologist must retain a level of objectivity in order to understand, analyse and explain the social world under study. These notes look at two main types of participant observation; covert and overt.
Document Preview
Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above
Participant observation
Participant observation refers to a form of sociological research methodology in which the
researcher takes on a role in the social situation under observation
...
The aim is to experience events in the manner in which the subjects under study
also experience these events
...
Whilst observing and experiencing as a participant, the
sociologist must retain a level of objectivity in order to understand, analyse and explain the social
world under study
...
contact with a 'gatekeeper', a member of the group under study who will introduce the
researcher into the group
...
problems of negotiating and having to act out forms of behaviour which the researcher
may personally find unethical or distasteful
...
close friendships are often resulting from connections with members of the group under
study and the covert nature of the research can put a tremendous strain on the
researcher, both in and out of the fieldwork setting
...
Advantages of this type of covert participant role are:
•
•
the researcher may gain access to social groups who would otherwise not consent to being
studied
...
However, there are problems of
recording data
...
the use of a 'sponsor', who is an individual likely to occupy a high status within the group,
therefore lessening any potential hostility towards the researcher
...
Advantages of the use of overt observation include:
•
•
•
•
the avoidance of problems of ethics in that the group are aware of the researcher's role
...
data may also be openly recorded
...
One famous example of covert participant observation is that undertaken by Erving Goffman in
his study of mental hospitals, published as Stigma in 1968
...
His research was mainly covert, with only a couple of
staff being privy to the knowledge of his research, and via this method he was able to uncover the
'unofficial reality' of life in a mental institution
...
Whyte's study Street Corner Society, (1943) where
he was protected from potential antagonism by his friendship with 'Doc', his sponsor
...
Going further
...
Naturalistic method – the attempt to understand the motives and meanings of social actions from
the viewpoint of those involved
...
DIRECT
1
...
2
...
Types of direct observation method
• Observation by camera
• Visual Observation
• Photographic Observations
• Video Observations
• Radio Observations
• Telescopic Observations
4
...
• The analyst must observe average workers during average conditions
...
5
...
• Follow plan
...
• Interview: interview worker and get additional information from him
...
Title: Participant Observations
Description: Participant observation refers to a form of sociological research methodology in which the researcher takes on a role in the social situation under observation. The social researcher immerses herself in the social setting under study, getting to know key actors in that location in a role which is either covert or overt, although in practice, the researcher will often move between these two roles. The aim is to experience events in the manner in which the subjects under study also experience these events. Sociologists who employ participant observation as a research tool aim to discover the nature of social reality by understanding the actor's perception, understanding and interpretation of that social world. Whilst observing and experiencing as a participant, the sociologist must retain a level of objectivity in order to understand, analyse and explain the social world under study. These notes look at two main types of participant observation; covert and overt.
Description: Participant observation refers to a form of sociological research methodology in which the researcher takes on a role in the social situation under observation. The social researcher immerses herself in the social setting under study, getting to know key actors in that location in a role which is either covert or overt, although in practice, the researcher will often move between these two roles. The aim is to experience events in the manner in which the subjects under study also experience these events. Sociologists who employ participant observation as a research tool aim to discover the nature of social reality by understanding the actor's perception, understanding and interpretation of that social world. Whilst observing and experiencing as a participant, the sociologist must retain a level of objectivity in order to understand, analyse and explain the social world under study. These notes look at two main types of participant observation; covert and overt.