Class Notes on
Participant Observation

12 Sept 2000

What is it? 

• a kind of fieldwork where you participate in the social world which you are studying
• if you are studying parties using participant observation, you actually go to many parties, observe and talk to people
• the berlitz method of learning a culture: total immersion
• usually long term
• often largely qualitative

Goals

• to get holistic sense of what's going on
• develop theory

Entering a site

• univ. credentials
• what are you really doing there? Have the 2 line answer ready, along with the longer answer

Fieldwork Roles

• degrees: observer, part. obs., participant
  • conversations vs. interviews
  • posture of involved and bright novice.
• issues of ethics. deception

Informants -- the people you talk to

• subjects, respondents, informants, experts, | consultants, collaborators

• In ethnographic work, there is a balance between respect for respondent and assumption that her representation of reality is True.

• the consulting fallacy.

• key informants
  • thorough enculturation. They know their own culture well. Culturally competent.
  • current involvement. not retired from that lifestyle or culture
  • cultural scene unfamiliar to researcher. 
    • 1, prevents taking things for granted, makes them sensitive. 
    • 2. analysis of familiar is difficult. becomes superficial. can't find anything of interest. see no point in writing down the obvious. 
    • 3. can't sincerely ask dumb questions. people think you are putting them on.
  • adequate time. must be available!
  • non-analytic. i.e., not versed in researcher culture. just repeat back researcher's culture. great ex. on pg 53.

• working with insiders as collaborators
  •  advantages: more motivated, better able to help you, ethically easier
  • disadvantages: contaminated by your biases
• pay subjects, maybe respondent, not informants ..

Recording data

• try to audio tape all interviews
• always take notes in addition
  • tape breaks down
  • let's you think about the next question and look at your questions

- kinds of notes:

• jottings: what you do while someone is talking or something is happening
• fieldnotes: at night, remembering the day, based on jottings
• codenotes: what you do when coding, i.e., in analyzing fieldnotes or other texts. 
• theory notes: very important. abstract notes where you start making sense of what you are finding. 
• process/log notes: notes in the field about what to do next; what you did that day
• diary: personal diary used when in the field for a long time as outlet for feelings.

- Stages

• initial jitters & energy
  • frightening to begin asking questions, nosing around
  • can't be anonymous - you stick out
• depression, culture shock
  • i hate these people. what am i doing here?
• 1st break
• hitting your stride
• 2nd break
• clean up: getting a bunch done