Non - participant observation

Question 1

Definition

Answer 1

Recording a groups behavior but not getting involved or playing an active part. There are several reasons the researcher might choose to do this, one because it eliminates the risk that people will be affected by the presence of a researcher, or it could be that the groups might be unwilling to cooperate in research if you participate in the experiment.-interpretivist

Question 2

Limitations

Answer 2

• If the observation is overt you are more at risk from the Hawthorne effect as people know they are being watched
• You do not gain as much information as participant observations as you are not so submerged in the group you are observing
• The objectivity of the observer: The researcher can take steps to ensure systematic and rigorous approaches to sampling, field notes, and data collection to increase transparency.
• Selectivity: The observation can never capture everything.
• Ethical concerns: Should the researcher’s voice be viewed with greater authority than that of the participants?

Question 3

Advantages

Answer 3

•By reducing the level of interaction between the researcher and the participants you can reduce the risk of the Hawthorne effect. However, this only happens if the observation is covert.
•It is also easier to record information and observations if you do not are not participating, so you can record data more easily
If an observer participates in the event actively and emotionally he may try to justify the evil things of the group as just things. In this frame of mind he cannot analyze the phenomena with neutrality. The observer in this type of observation gives a detached and unbiased view about the group.
non- participant observation the researcher does not even miss a thing. He carefully judges the merits and demerits of each and every phenomenon under study, where as participant observers may neglect important events that seem trivial