Week 7: Participant Observation and Ethnography

Social Research MethodsAlice Mah

Good reads…

Lecture OutlineWhat is ethnography?What is participant observation?Practicalities (access, gatekeepers, online vs.

face-to-face, field notes, writing up/analysis)ConclusionsSeminar: readings and homework

What is ethnography?“The underlying purpose of ethnographic research is to describe what the people in some particular place or status ordinarily do, and the meanings they ascribe to what they do…” (Wolcott, 1999, p. 68)

“[Ethnography] involves the ethnographer participating overtly or covertly in people's daily lives for an extended period of time, watching what happens, listening to what is said, asking questions - in fact, collecting whatever data are available to throw light on the issues that are the focus of research.” (Hammersley and Atkinson, 1995, p. 1) 4

Ethnographic questions

o What is happening, specifically, in the social action that takes place in a particular setting?

o What is the meaning of the action to the actors in the setting?

How are the events that take place patterned in a way that reveals aspects of the social organisation of the setting?

How is the action in the setting related to other contexts and society as a whole?

Traditions in ethnographic researchNo single linear trajectory in the development of ethnography – overlapping “traditions” Chicago school

Founded in 1892; 1917-1942 – Robert Park and Ernest Burgess, urban sociologyFocus on everyday interactions in specific locations; triangulation of methodsSeeking out “natural areas” of the city (e.g. Jewish ghetto, dance halls etc.)Critiques: normally male, middle-class perspective; not neutral

British social anthropologyBegan in the 1920s, closely associated with Bronislaw Malinowski (1922) Argonauts

of the Western PacificCentral goal: “to grasp the native’s point of view, his relation to life, to realise his

vision of his world” (Malinowski)Fieldwork as a rite of passageCritiques: prevailing empiricism, ignores role of observer, relates to colonialism

Community studies1930s-1960s: early community studies – seeking out “pure” communities (e.g. West

(1945) Plainville, USA, Lynd and Lynd (1929) Middletown, USA )Early focus on place; later – focus on migration / urbanisation Critiques: community as ‘bounded’, romanticised, exclusive, difficult to define

Ethnography: the study of the ‘Other’

Bronislaw Malinowski with ‘natives’ on Trobriand Islands in 1918.

More recent developments in ethnography1970s – transcending disciplines: move towards

anthropological fieldwork in Europe; shift towards ‘ethnography’ as a key sociological method

Increased focus on gender and ethnicity Increased focus on mobile groups (migrants / tourists)Studying groups with a shared perspective (children /

untouchables / transvestites)Addressing silenced perspectives Incorporating critiques of scienceReflexivity

What is participant observation?1/2

“Participant observation is about engaging in a social scene, experiencing it and seeking to understand and explain it.”(May, 1997, p. 155)

“One cannot simply observe. A question such as ‘What is going on here?’ can only be addressed when fleshed out with enough detail to answer the related question, ‘In terms of what?’”(Wolcott, 1999, p69)

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What is participant observation?2/2

Trying to understand a social sceneDoing this by observing what is going onDoing this by participating (to some extent) in what is

going onOxymoron: combination of ‘subjectivity’ as

participant and ‘objectivity’ as distant observer: towards ‘intersubjective’ understandings between researcher and research participants

Listening to/thinking about how and why people act as they do within that social scene

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Participant observation and ethnography

Participant observation: central and defining feature of ethnographyBurgess, 1984; Delamont, 1992; Wolcott, 1995)

Links to Chicago SchoolWeber’s verstehenInteractionismInterest in the micro not the macro

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Possible problems with participant observation

Focus on the present may blind researcher to important events that occurred before their arrival

The risk of going ‘native’ and over-identifying with the observed, or else voyeurism/exploitation.

The risk of artificially ‘bounding’ communities or cultures through research focus.

The risk of ‘empiricism’/simple description rather than sociological analysis

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Practicalities of Participant Observation

Negotiating accessGatekeepers and trustNon-negotiated accessOnline vs. face-to-face Field notes and reflexivityWriting up and analysis

Negotiating access

Initial access, situational access, ongoing access

Negotiating access usually requires personal revelationsHow much do you reveal?

Tests of confidentialityWhat did ‘x’ tell you?

Importance of confidentiality and trust

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Implications of the gatekeeper relationshipGatekeeper “…those individuals in an organisation

that have the power to grant or withhold access to people or situation for the purposes of research.” (Burgess, 1984: 48)

Different gatekeepers control different aspects of the settingGaining access by one route may limit other forms of

accessAccess route has implications for research

Top down vs. bottom upHeadteacher vs. teacher vs. pupilFootball coach vs. player

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The Centrality of TrustLayers of Trust

What if you discover an hotel cleaner skipping some of her/his cleaning routines?

Whose confidentiality do you protect?

How do you explain your research?How much do you tell?Access to the data or the interpreted

data?

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Non-negotiated accessSome settings do not require formal negotiation of

accessA football match

Have to buy a ticketBar life

Have to buy a drinkNo official gatekeeper for such settings

No single person from whom to seek permissionResearcher must still access the situation

Behave according to formal and informal rulesSeek permission from particular respondents

Online vs. face-to-face participant observationEthical issues:

Role of the researcher in the setting (problem of ‘lurking’; question of ongoing access)

Issues of confidentiality and consent ‘online’Limitations of textual and/or multi-media

interactions vs. face-to-face observationsIssues of representation/identity of research

participants (often a focus of research)

Participant observation and field notes

BackgroundWhat do people usually do in this setting and why?

Physical space:How is it laid out; how do people use the space?

Draw a diagram/mapVerbal communication:

Who talks to whom? Why do you think this is?Non-verbal communication

A wink or a twitch?

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Field notes: reflexivity and reflections

Reflexive research:What is your role in this setting? What sort of

effect do you think this is having?As you become more familiar with your research

setting your views of people and of issues in the setting may change.

Research diaryWrite up an account of the observation and how

you felt about it. Did it go well? Why/Why not? What could you do differently next time?

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‘Jottings’

Reminders of the setting

Notes on particular incidents to be written up in full later

Write ‘jottings’ in front of people or not?

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Full field notes

Write these up from your jottings ASAPRecording experiences whilst still fresh in your

memoryWord process them – easier to cut and paste later

when you look for themes from your dataWriting up full field notes is part of your initial

analysisYou are deciding what to include and what to leave

outThick descriptions of events

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Thick description

Important to describe the sceneNot just a summary of what has happened

Aim to create text that conveys a picture of the scene

Record facial expressions, noises, colours

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Writing up and analysis

Use your full field notes in your research project: quote from these notes to:give the reader a full flavour of your research

setting, and show that you have carried out observation as

well as analysed the data you have collected. Never leave field notes to speak for themselves – “So

what?”Analysis: theoretical saturation and identification of

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Additional considerations

Time-consuming: recommended amount of observation for projects that use ethnography as the primary qualitative method: 35 hours.

Can be combined with other qualitative methods in the field (interviews, archives, documents, visual materials, mobile methods) as well as with quantitative methods.

Conclusions

Ethnography has developed across a range of traditions and disciplines, and there continue to be differing approaches to ethnography.

Participant observation is a central method of ethnography, with aim of developing ‘intersubjective’ understandings.

Access is continually negotiated throughout the research process - it is not simply something you do at the outset.

The access route you take may have an effect on the way you as the researcher are perceived (top-down or bottom-up).

Field notes are an important part of the research.Trust is central to the research situation and to your access to

the researched.

Seminar ReadingsGeertz: a classic ethnographer who provides a useful account

of ‘thick description’ and the subtleties of participant observation and interpretation.

Anderson: an example of ethnographic writing and research to be discussed in the seminars in detail. Think about how the research is presented in relation to the idea of ‘thick description’ (Geertz). Please also read the book review to provide some context for reading the book chapter.

Additional key reading: Crang and Cook or else one of the recommended readings for further guidelines on participant observation as a method (Hine is particularly useful re: online ethnographies).

Seminar Homework

Select an appropriate social setting for ethnographic research and undertake a participant observation of at least one hour. You should record your observations, reflections and preliminary findings/analysis in your research diary (or 'field notes‘/ ‘jottings’). Come prepared to discuss specific issues (which are outlined on the module website) with the whole seminar.