Participant Observation

• Types of Observation:

  Non-Participant Observation:

  • The researcher observes the group without taking part (e.g. via a 2 way mirror.)

  Participant Observation:

  • Researcher actually takes part in the everyday life of the group whilst observing it.
• Overt Participant Observation - The group are aware that they are being studied.
• Covert Participant Observation - The group are unaware that they are being studied.
• Most Participant Observation is Unstructured.
• Practical Issues with Participant Observation Studies:

  Gaining entry and acceptance into the group

  • James Patrick 1973 - Glasgow Gang. Connection in Tim. Once in a group, the researcher has to gain acceptance. They have to build up a rapport with the group and gain their trust.
  • Ned Polsky 1971 - Poolroom Hustler. Polsky was a good pool player, therefore possessed the necessary skill to gain entry into the group.

  Making initial contact with the group can depend on personal skills, having the right connections, or pure chance.
• Theoretical Issues with Participant Observation:

  • Positivists are against using Participant Observation because it is unreliable. If one researcher was to repeat the study they would find different results. This is because different researchers may have different subjective interpretations of the same thing.
  • The very presence of the researcher is going to change the group's behaviour.
  • Only a small sample researched.
  • Studied only typical of one group - unrepresentative.
• Going Native:

  When the researcher becomes too over involved and attached to thr group resulting in subjective, biased findings.

  Example; Punch 1970.

  • Study of Amsterdam Police.
  • Punch over identifies with the group - chasing and holding suspects, searching houses, cars and people.
• Advantages of Overt Observation:

  • No deception because participants are aware they are being studied.
  • Gained Informed Consent.
  • Less risk of Going Native.
  • Avoids practical issues of maintaining cover.
  • Observer can take notes openly.
  • Observer can ask naïve questions that only outsiders can ask.
• Disadvantages of Overt Observation:

  • Hawthorne effect. Participants are aware they are being watched so may act differently to please the researcher.
  • May refuse permission.
• William Foote Whyte, Street Corner Society (1955)

  Ivy-League Scholar

  Covert Participant Observation

  • Study of an Italian-American street corner gang in Boston.
  • Whyte spent 3 1/2 years in the area as a participant observer, including living in an Italian house. Learnt Italian.
  • Whyte, a middle class white man, stood out in the group.
  • After, he found it difficult to reenter his normal life amongst other scholars.
• Laud Humphreys, Tearoom Trade: Impersonal Sex in Public Places (1970)

  Covert Participant Observation

  • Wanted to study Gay Subculture.
  • Observed the sexual activity of gay men in 90 public toilets in American cities in the 1960's.
  • Covert role as 'gay voyeur' and a 'watch-queen' (lookout)
  • Humphreys became an accepted part of the gay scene in Chicago, through visiting gay bars and other parts of gay scene.
  • Noted the car numbers of gay men who used tearooms
  • Got their information through contact in the police.
  • conducted research 1 yr later for a 'health survey' had to disguise himself.
• James Patrick, A Glasgow Gang Observed (1973)

  Covert Participant Observation

  Teaching Assistant

  • Studied a violent and delinquent teenage Glasgow Gang over a period of 4 months between October 1966 and January 1967, through his contact, a student called Tim.
• Eileen Barker, Making of a Moonie (1984)

  Overt Participant Observation

  • Study of members of the Unification Church, a controversial religious sect headed by the Revd Moon.
  • Over a period of 6 years.
  • Highly Controversial Group
  • Families were hiring 'programmers' to reverse the effects if the group.
  • Potentially reduced validity as the participants are aware they are being observed.
  • Barker found no evidence of manipulation.
• Griffin

  • Wanted to observe racism in Southern American towns in the 1960's
  • Used medication and sunbeds to change his skin colour to pass as black.
• General Disadvantages of Participant Observation:

  • P.O lacks reliability, the research is not replicable.
  • Very time consuming and Expensive research method.
  • Covert P.O involves deception, and lacks informed consent.
  • Risk of 'Going Native'
  • Getting out of the group is difficult. Researcher may also find that loyalty prevents them from fully disclosing everything they've learnt.
  • Maintaining cover can be difficult.
  • Getting into the group can be difficult.
• General Advantages of Participant Observation:

  • The researcher can gain insight and 'Verstehen'
  • Produces more valid data.
  • May be only way to study some groups, particularly those closed off to wider society, such as deviant groups.
  • It is a flexible method.