The Pros and Cons of Participant Observation or Surveys as a Research Method

1933 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Cultural anthropology participant observation assignment

Introduction

In our daily activities as humans, we consciously and unconsciously observe what people do around us, how they do it, and sometimes ask why they do what they do. In so doing we gain a better understanding of their ways of life. Anthropologist and sociologist too mention but a few, professions employ the daily observations we engage in as humans in a methodology called participant observation. Dewalt and Dewalt (2002:1) define participant observation as “a method in which a researcher takes part in the daily activities, events, rituals and interactions, of a group of people as one of the means of learning the explicit and tacit aspects of their life routine and culture.” Participant observation can be carried out in roles that reveal or hide the identity of the researcher (i.e. covert or overt roles) in four different capacities namely complete participant, participant as observer, observer as participant, complete observer Bryman (2004). These capacities all have their merits and demerits. However, for the purpose of this essay participant observation would be discussed holistically devoid of the various roles. This is due to limitation on words. This essay discusses the merits and weaknesses of participant observation, arguing that the weaknesses are inherent in the merits and as such the merits outweigh the weaknesses and concludes with ethical discussions on participant observation.

Merits and weakenesses.

Participant observation has been lauded as an excellent technique for dealing with various complex socio-cultural phenomena suggests Jorgensen (1989) and Robson (2011).Similarly Tedlock (1991) also posits that the expectations on participant observation as a research methodology are high as it is expected t...

... middle of paper ...

...esearch: a resource for users of social research methods in applied settings, 3rd ed Oxford, Blackwell publishers. PP 315-344

Schwartz M.S and Schwartz C.G, 1955. Problems in Participant Observation. American Journal of Sociology Vol. 60, No.4 pp 251-255

Scheper-Hughes N, 1995. The Primacy of the Ethical: Propositions for a Militant Anthropology.Current Anthropology Vol. 36, No, 3 pp 409-440

Tedlock B, 1991, Participant Observation to the Observation of Participation: The Emergence of Narrative Ethnography. Journal of Anthropological Research, Vol. 47, No 1, pp. 69-94

Vidich J A., 1955. Participant Observation and the Collection and interpretation of Data. American Journal of Sociology.Vol.60, No.4, pp. 354-360

Vidich J.A and Shapiro Gilbert, 1955. A Comparison of Participant Observation and Survey Data. American Sociological Review vol.20, No 1, pp 28-33

Show More
Related

  • Autoethnographic Research: Annotated Bibliography

    1210 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hayano (1979) first introduced the term “auto-ethnography” in response to his questions around the issue of how people could create ethnographies of their own cultures, but the extent of its relevance and application only arose in the coming years. This relevance was due to the shift away from canonical forms of research that were “author evacuated texts” (Sparkes, 2000, p. 22) towards a more personalised approach. This was a direct echo of the post-modern movement burgeoning at the time, which questioned the scientific paradigm that qualitative research was subjected to. Rather autoethnographies “are highly personalized accounts that draw upon the experience of the author/researcher for the purposes of extending sociological understanding” (Sparkes, 2000, p. 21).

    Read More

  • Semiautobiographical Work- Borderlands/La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria Anzaldúa

    1280 Words  | 3 Pages

    Madison, D. Soyini. "Chapter 1: Introduction to Critical Ethnography: Theory and Method." Critical Ethnography: Method, Ethics, and Performance. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2005. N. pag. Print.

    Read More

  • Is Aristotelian Virtue Ethics a Successful Moral Theory?

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    Shafer-Landau, R. (2013) Ethical Theory: An Anthology (Second Edition). West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

    Read More

  • Participant Observation In Cuarenta

    1077 Words  | 3 Pages

    In this essay I am going to argue that participant observation was the most effective way to learn the Ecuadorian card game, Cuarenta. Participant observation is defined as “[learning] not just through asking questions or observing but by getting involved directly, trying things out oneself” (Barker 2008:9). I followed these guidelines in my study of Cuarenta. First, I had the game explained to me by my key informants Esteban and Ale. Second, I watched Esteban and Ale play a round of the game. Lastly, my friend Ashley and I joined them. A key informant is a primary source of information, they are knowledgeable on the subject on which they are informing, and they are interviewed extensively (Tremblay 1957:688). My key informants, Esteban Ortiz and Ale Nieto are international students from Ecuador, at St. Thomas University. They are qualified to be my key informants on Cuarenta because they are knowledgeable not only on the card game itself, but the culture it came from.

    Read More

  • Black Women´s Hair Throughout History and their Identity

    1828 Words  | 4 Pages

    Available at http://srmo.sagepub.com/view/the-sage-dictionary-of-social-research-methods/n134.xml. Retrieved on 31/03/2014.

    Read More

  • Class, Socialization, and Politics

    1853 Words  | 4 Pages

    6.)     Giddens, Anthony, Duneier, Mitchell, and Appelbaum, Richard P. Introduction to Sociology: Fourth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc., 2003.

    Read More

  • Participant Observation in Anthropology

    1760 Words  | 4 Pages

    Participant observation is a method of collecting information and data about a culture and is carried out by the researcher immersing themselves in the culture they observing. The researcher becomes known in the community, getting to know and understand the culture in a more intimate and detailed way than would be possible from any other approach. This is done by observing and participating in the community’s daily activities. The method is so effective because the researcher is able to directly approach the people in the community in a natural context as opposed to taking the participant out of their environment. The aim of participant observation is to gain an understanding the subject’s life from their perspective, with the purpose of collecting more detailed information about a community’s habits, opinions, relationships and issues.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Ethnographic Reflexivity

    847 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... argues that even though our mission is to understand the culture we our studying one cannot make final assumptions about a culture. One has to reflex on the fact that a culture is always changing and that our preparation of our discipline is not often the method one uses in fieldwork.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Michael Walzer's View on Terrorism

    1574 Words  | 4 Pages

    Cahn, S.M. (2011). Exploring Ethics: An Introductory Anthology, 2Nd Edition. (pp. 239-253) Oxford University Press

    Read More

  • Ethnography

    894 Words  | 2 Pages

    I emphasize here the collusion between all parties involved, for it is important to recognize the ways in which informmants are also actors and agents, and that the negotiation of reality that takes place in the doing of ethnography involves complex and shifting relations of power in which the ethnographrapher acts and is also acted upon. (Kondo 75)

    Read More

  • Kids Toys and Socialization

    1415 Words  | 3 Pages

    Conley, Dalton. (2013). You May Ask Yourself: An Introduction to Thinking like a Sociologist (3rd edition). Columbus, OH: W. W. Norton & Company.

    Read More

  • The Return to Laughter, by Elenore Smith Bowen

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Return to Laughter is a fictionalized account by Elenore Smith Bowen about her experiences with the Tiv culture in Africa. It describes her struggles to learn and understand the local culture and beliefs, and juxtaposes her own conflicts, morals and beliefs. Bowen engages in what anthropologists termed participant-observation. The anthropologist made a few mistakes that provided revelations about herself and the Tiv people. Language difficulties provide the greatest barrier: as when the researcher is trying to understand the context of the conversation, while still struggling with the intricacy of a difficult language. Secondly, like most anthropologists Bowen knew that social relationships are a research requirement: informants are needed, yet she quickly realized that identification with one family, status or group in the society could hinder other critical relationships. These lessons are among a few that the anthropologist seeks to overcome. This essay will discuss that culture and language are dependent on each other and how forming social relationships can propel research and reveal insightful knowledge into a culture, while possibly hindering other useful information.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Barbara Gallatin Anderson's 'Around The World In 30 Years'

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the book titled Around the World in 30 Years, Barbara Gallatin Anderson’s makes a precise and convincing argument regarding the acts of being a cultural anthropologist. Her humor, attention to detail, and familiar analogies really allow for a wholesome and educating experience for the reader. Her credible sources and uniform writing structure benefits the information. Simply, the book represents an insider’s look into the life of a cultural anthropologist who is getting the insider’s look to the lives of everybody

    Read More

  • A Critique of Judith Thomson’s A Defense of Abortion

    1883 Words  | 4 Pages

    Cahn, Steven M. and Peter Markie, Ethics: History, Theory and Contemporary Issues. 4th Edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2009.

    Read More

  • The Role of Theory in Social Research

    1621 Words  | 4 Pages

    Parsons, Talcott. (1938). The Role of Theory in Social Research. American Sociological Review. 3(1), 13-20.

    Read More

More about The Pros and Cons of Participant Observation or Surveys as a Research Method

Open Document