participant observation spradley ebookers

Can be viewed as a subset of methods of participant-observation, as the central questions in that field have to do with how to take a camera into the field, while dealing with such issues as the observer effect. The development of participant-observation as a research tool has therefore not been a haphazard process, but instead has practiced a great deal of self-criticism and review. In response to these challenges, some ethnographers have refined their methods, either making them more amenable to formal hypothesis-testing and replicability, or framing their interpretations within a more carefully considered. At the same time, a more formalized qualitative research program known as, initiated by Glaser and Strauss, began gaining currency within American sociology and related fields such as public health.

Since the 1980s, some anthropologists and other social scientists have questioned the degree to which participant observation can give veridical insight into the minds of other people. The postmortem publication of 's decade of work as a participant-observer with the, The Social Organization of the Western Apache, established him as a prominent figure in the field of. This same method of study has also been applied to groups within Western society, and is especially successful in the study of or groups sharing a strong sense of identity, where only by taking part may the observer truly get access to the lives of those being studied. Participant observation is one type of data collection method typically used in qualitative research. Spradley should be read by anyone who wants to gain a true.

By living with the cultures they studied, researchers were able to formulate first hand accounts of their lives and gain novel insights. It emerged as the principal approach to research by and relied on the cultivation of personal relationships with local informants as a way of learning about a culture, involving both observing and participating in the social life of a group.

History and development Participant observation was used extensively by in his study of the Indians in the later part of the nineteenth century, followed by the studies of non-Western societies by people such as, and in the first half of the twentieth century.

The method originated in the of social anthropologists, especially and his students in Britain, the students of in the United States, and in the later urban research of the of sociology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, sub cultural group, or a particular community) and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly, European, and.

Participant observation is one type of method typically used in.

Participant observation spradley ebookers