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Task

Disadvantages

Make a plan for the following essay;

Examine the problems sociologists may find when using participant observation in their research. (20 marks)

If you want to practice your essay writing, feel free to write this up at home and I will mark it for you.

Bias - critics argue that participant observation studies lack objectivity.

Validity - Positivists argue that findings from participant observations are merely the subjective and biased impressions of the observer.

Hawthorne Effect.

Lack of a concept of structure - Ignores the wider structural forces that shape our behaviour such as class inequality or the norms and values into which we are socialised.

Disadvantages

Practical disadvantages;

- Time consuming

- Researcher needs to be trained

- It can be personally stressful and demanding

- Access can be difficult

- Personal characteristics may restrict what groups can be studied.

Ethics - Deceiving people to obtain information about them.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Representativeness - Unlike quantitative methods, the group studied is usually very small. This does not provide a sound basis for making generalisations.

Reliability - As the research is dependent on the personal skills of the lone researcher, it is unlikely another person would be able to replicate the study.

Qualitative data makes comparisons with other studies difficult.

Advantages

Validity - By observing people we can obtain a rich source of qualitative data that provides a picture of how they really live.

Insight - The best way to truly understand something is to experience it for ourselves. Sociologists call this subjective understanding 'verstehen'.

Participant observation allows the researcher to gain empathy through personal experience. This closeness to people's lived reality means that participant observation can give uniquely valid, authentic data.

Advantages

Flexibility - Has no fixed hypothesis which allows the sociologist to enter the situation with a relatively open mind about what they will find.

Whyte 'I learned answers to questions that I would not have had the sense to ask if I had been using interviews.

Practical Advantages - Because participant observation enables the sociologist to build a rapport with the group and gain its trust, it has proved a successful method of studying delinquent gangs, football hooligans, thieves, drug users, religious sects.

Review Quiz

Spend the next 5 minutes reading through your notes from last week, ready for the quiz

What is meant by 'covert observation'?

What is the difference between participant and non-participant observation?

What is meant by 'going native'?

Name 2 problems you could face when conducting covert participant observation.

What type of observation would interpretivists prefer to use?

What ethical issues could the researcher face when conducting covert observation?

Participant Observation

Advantages and Disadvantages

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