Participant Observation

Question 1

what does making initial contact depend on?

Answer 1

• personal skills
• having the right connections
• chance

Question 2

what can be an obstacle from gaining trust of the group?

Answer 2

researchers characteristics being different from the groups, age, ethnicity, gender, class

Question 3

what do researchers risk by being too detached or too involved?

Answer 3

not understanding what they observe or going native

Question 4

what is going native?

Answer 4

over identifying with the group

Question 5

what can be a problem with getting used to the group? and how does Whyte put this problem?

Answer 5

their behaviour seems less strange so the researcher gradually ceases to notice things which once would have struck them as not worthy
‘i started as a non-participating observer and ended up as a participating non-observer.’

Question 6

what can be hard about leaving the group?

Answer 6

• re-entering one’s normal world

- loyalty to the group

Question 7

participant observation offers what Weber calls …….., living in their environment can develop rapport and insight into their meanings and way of life

Answer 7

verstehen

Question 8

what can be good and difficult about the large amount of qualitative data gained?

Answer 8

give us a feel for what it is like to be a member of the group but this makes comparisons with other studies difficult and unlikely to produce reliable data

Question 9

what do positivists argue involvement in the group risks?

Answer 9

going native and producing biased, over-sympathetic data. involvement can encourage loyalty to the group and concealment of sensitive information

Question 10

why does it appeal to interactionists?

Answer 10

it tells from actors points of view,

Question 11

what do interpretivists say about participant observation?

Answer 11

that it avoids imposing sociologists own categories and gives an authentic account of actors world through actors view point

Question 12

what do positivists argue about participant observation?

Answer 12

findings are biased subjective impressions of the observed who selects what to record and these likely fit into their values and predjudices. and lots of data means that sociologists have to choose what to put into the final account which will reflect their values

Question 13

what is the hawthorne effect?

Answer 13

when the observers presence makes people act differently, this is more of a problem in overt studies but can still happen in covert studies since an extra member still has effects

Question 14

what do interpretivists argue about the hawthorne effect not making much difference?

Answer 14

over time the group gets used to the observers presence and behave normally, also the researcher can try to adopt a less intrusive role to minimise threat to validity

Question 15

what are ethical issues of covert participation?

Answer 15

• unethical to deceive people in order to obtain information, researchers should obtain informed consent - may have to lie to leave group or abandon them
• may have to participate in immoral/illegal activities to fit with their role

Question 16

if observers witness illegal activities they have duty to report it to the police however….

Answer 16

this could undermine relationship with the group or blow cover

Question 17

what does open ended mean and how can this affect informed consent?

Answer 17

that it is not known where the research will end so cannot be easily explained to subjects to gain informed consent, also people tend to flout in and out of the research so it can be impractical to ask for everyone’s consent

Question 18

why is participant observation associated with an action perspective?

Answer 18

because they see society as constructed from the bottom up, through small scale, face to face interactions so participant observation is a good tool for examining micro level interactions and meanings first hand as it allows them to see though actors eyes

Question 19

why do structural sociologists like marxists and functionalists see observation as inadequate?

Answer 19

tends to ignore macro stuctural forces that shape our behaviour, seeing things through individual’s eyes can’t give an adequate picture

Question 20

when have functionalists had to use observations?

Answer 20

when they have been the only way to study small scale, non literate societies

Question 21

which neo-marxist used qualitative data from observation to support analysis?

Answer 21

Willis

Question 22

explain Yablonsky’s point that observation may sometimes be the only way to study deviant groups

Answer 22

it enable rapport which is important since a teenage gang is likely to see researchers armed with questionnaires as unwelcome representatives of authority

Question 23

give an example of how it can be used when questioning is ineffective

Answer 23

Cicourel studied how police categorised juveniles, they were unaware of these assumptions so couldn’t be questioned

Question 24

give an example of those involved in controlling crime not wanting to be studied and having the power to resist

Answer 24

Holdaway said him being a police officers made it easier to observe police but resistance still made it difficult. he says research has to be able to pierce ‘the protective shield that police held.

Question 25

why can it be hard to observe deviant acts?

Answer 25

they don’t happen in a predictable way so the observer can end up hanging around for an event that may not occur

Question 26

settings can take a long time for researchers to familarise themselves with the roles and rules so studies can take a very long time, give an example

Answer 26

Adler describes the drug dealers he studied as having a mistrustful and paranoid culture so took 6 years to completely study

Question 27

personal characteristics of the researcher may affect groups that can be studied, how did Downes and Rock put this problem?

Answer 27

‘not everybody would pass uneventfully into the world of punk rockers and hell’s angels.’

Question 28

give and example of how observation of violent groups can be dangerous

Answer 28

Vankatesh was only spared when he was able to convince them he wasn’t associated with the police

Question 29

demonstrate an example of a researcher going native

Answer 29

Punch found himself over identifying with the police he studied, sometimes acting like a police officer himself and shouting at those who abused colleagues

Question 30

deviants may refuse overt participation or not act as the would, what was punch told by 2 police officers?

Answer 30

that ‘we only let you see what we wanted you to see.’

Question 31

give one one overt is better than covert?

Answer 31

it allows naive questions to be asked like ‘why do you steal’

Question 32

give an example of where covert participation has been used to study people who want to keep their activities a secret

Answer 32

Humphrey’s study of gay sexual encounters in public toilets where he pretended to be in the same boat and observation was the only way to study such discreditable behaviour

Question 33

finding a covert role can be difficult give an example of one

Answer 33

Humphrey was a look out when studying gay sexual encounters in public toilets

Question 34

there is always a risk of having cover blown. why does Polsky advise not to pretend to be a gang member? and give an example

Answer 34

he said they would test you by putting you in illegal activities for example Patrick was handed an axe to use in a gang fight

Question 35

convert means that notes can’t be taken openly on researchers must rely on their memory to write them secretly give an example

Answer 35

Ditton studying theft among bread delivery men wrote notes in the toilet which eventually arose suspicion

Question 36

why do interpretivists believe participant observation is good for studying crime as an unfamiliar subject?

Answer 36

since so few sociologists will have explored crime, open, non-directive methods are useful in exploring unfamiliar subjects

Question 37

what are the ethical issues of covert research?

Answer 37

lack of informed consent so can’t debrief those involved , dilemma of what do in situations of law breaking

Question 38

covert is sometimes the only way to study suspicious groups how does Humphreys justify this?

Answer 38

he calls this situation ethics where the ethics of research are driven by nature of the group and the issues being studied

Question 39

give an example of someone who abandoned the group without saying anything

Answer 39

Patrick