Participant observations

Question 1

Thornton ‘Raves’ [access]

Answer 1

• Thornton couldn’t have achieved her access to drug users within the 90s rave scene without the bond she formed with ‘Kate’
• without Kate her age, class, ethnicity had been an obstacle

Question 2

Religious cult [Festinger]

Answer 2

• Festinger (1956) led a participant observation study of a religious cult
• many of his doctoral researchers stopped researching and adopted the lifestyle.

Question 3

‘Gang Leader for a Day’ Venkatesh

Answer 3

• Venkatesh led an overt observation inside one of Chicago’s worst housing projects.
• befriended J.T. the leader of the ‘Black Kings’, and led the group for a day.
• This is in a natural setting which is a strength of PO

Question 4

‘Tea-Room Trade’ [Humphreys]

Answer 4

• He used participant obs and structured interviews and offered to serve as ‘watchqueen’
• gained confidence of some of the men and persuaded them to tell him about the rest of their lives
• A year later, disguised, appeared at their homes claiming to be a health service interviewer and interviewed them about their marital status and jobs etc.
• Members of the sociology department said the research unethically invaded privacy and threatened the social standing of the subject

Question 5

Chelsea Headhunters [McIntyre]

Answer 5

• he had to hang around bars and have a large knowledge of the Chelsea history to be accepted by the headhunters.
• had a Chelsea tattoo and drove hooligans to matches to build up trust between himself and the other hooligans.
• McIntyre understood some of the complex reasons and emotions that drove football hooligan actions.
• His research must have cost the thousands of pounds and took him 12 months to complete [BBC funded – biased?]

Question 6

‘A Glasgow Gang’ [Patrick]

Answer 6

• observed closely the gang members
• Patrick found it impossible avoid being involved in a street fight
• Patrick was given an axe and expected to use it. He ran away.
• he had to move house, change his name and lived in fear for a number of years.

Question 7

‘The Making of a Moonie’ [Barker]

Answer 7

• wanted to study of the religious sect known as “the Moonies”.
• Barker gained informed consent from the leaders of the Moonies who were fully aware that Barker was a sociologist and studying their religious group.
• Barker encouraged many of the participants to discuss problems they had with the organization Barker but found it very challenging to be accepted by the group.