Non-participant Observation Flashcards
Non-Participant Observation Evaluation
•P - Recording data is easier, access to group is easier to obtain. Researcher doesn’t need to engage in potentially dangerous activities.
•E - Can be issues if a covert study
•R - Only small groups can be accurately studied, may not be representative.
•V - Less involved, so less likely for bias or going native. Less likely to directly influence behaviour, but Hawthorne effect and observer bias more likely. Not as 1st-hand.
•E - Data collected is more likely to quantitative as researchers are less involved. This gives easily-analysable results.
•R - More reliable as the researcher can use things like a behaviour schedule and intimate access to a group is not needed.
•T - Interpretivists favour observations generally as they give detailed understandings of behaviour. Positivists are generally critical as data is argued to be unreliable and un-quantified.
