Participant Observation Flashcards
what does making initial contact depend on?
- personal skills
- having the right connections
- chance
what can be an obstacle from gaining trust of the group?
researchers characteristics being different from the groups, age, ethnicity, gender, class
what do researchers risk by being too detached or too involved?
not understanding what they observe or going native
what is going native?
over identifying with the group
what can be a problem with getting used to the group? and how does Whyte put this problem?
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.’
what can be hard about leaving the group?
- re-entering one’s normal world
- loyalty to the group
participant observation offers what Weber calls …….., living in their environment can develop rapport and insight into their meanings and way of life
verstehen
what can be good and difficult about the large amount of qualitative data gained?
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
what do positivists argue involvement in the group risks?
going native and producing biased, over-sympathetic data. involvement can encourage loyalty to the group and concealment of sensitive information
why does it appeal to interactionists?
it tells from actors points of view,
what do interpretivists say about participant observation?
that it avoids imposing sociologists own categories and gives an authentic account of actors world through actors view point
what do positivists argue about participant observation?
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
what is the hawthorne effect?
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
what do interpretivists argue about the hawthorne effect not making much difference?
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
what are ethical issues of covert participation?
- 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
if observers witness illegal activities they have duty to report it to the police however….
this could undermine relationship with the group or blow cover
what does open ended mean and how can this affect informed consent?
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
why is participant observation associated with an action perspective?
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
why do structural sociologists like marxists and functionalists see observation as inadequate?
tends to ignore macro stuctural forces that shape our behaviour, seeing things through individual’s eyes can’t give an adequate picture
when have functionalists had to use observations?
when they have been the only way to study small scale, non literate societies
which neo-marxist used qualitative data from observation to support analysis?
Willis
explain Yablonsky’s point that observation may sometimes be the only way to study deviant groups
it enable rapport which is important since a teenage gang is likely to see researchers armed with questionnaires as unwelcome representatives of authority
give an example of how it can be used when questioning is ineffective
Cicourel studied how police categorised juveniles, they were unaware of these assumptions so couldn’t be questioned
give an example of those involved in controlling crime not wanting to be studied and having the power to resist
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.
why can it be hard to observe deviant acts?
they don’t happen in a predictable way so the observer can end up hanging around for an event that may not occur
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
Adler describes the drug dealers he studied as having a mistrustful and paranoid culture so took 6 years to completely study
personal characteristics of the researcher may affect groups that can be studied, how did Downes and Rock put this problem?
‘not everybody would pass uneventfully into the world of punk rockers and hell’s angels.’
give and example of how observation of violent groups can be dangerous
Vankatesh was only spared when he was able to convince them he wasn’t associated with the police
demonstrate an example of a researcher going native
Punch found himself over identifying with the police he studied, sometimes acting like a police officer himself and shouting at those who abused colleagues
deviants may refuse overt participation or not act as the would, what was punch told by 2 police officers?
that ‘we only let you see what we wanted you to see.’
give one one overt is better than covert?
it allows naive questions to be asked like ‘why do you steal’
give an example of where covert participation has been used to study people who want to keep their activities a secret
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
finding a covert role can be difficult give an example of one
Humphrey was a look out when studying gay sexual encounters in public toilets
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
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
convert means that notes can’t be taken openly on researchers must rely on their memory to write them secretly give an example
Ditton studying theft among bread delivery men wrote notes in the toilet which eventually arose suspicion
why do interpretivists believe participant observation is good for studying crime as an unfamiliar subject?
since so few sociologists will have explored crime, open, non-directive methods are useful in exploring unfamiliar subjects
what are the ethical issues of covert research?
lack of informed consent so can’t debrief those involved , dilemma of what do in situations of law breaking
covert is sometimes the only way to study suspicious groups how does Humphreys justify this?
he calls this situation ethics where the ethics of research are driven by nature of the group and the issues being studied
give an example of someone who abandoned the group without saying anything
Patrick
