Table of Contents
Preface ix
Chapter 1 What is Participant Observation? 1
The Method of Participant Observation 1
History of the Method 5
Why Participant Observation Is Important 10
Enhancing the Quality of Data Collection and Analysis 10
Formulating New Research Questions 15
Notes 16
Chapter 2 Learning to be a Participant Observer: Theoretical Issues 19
Learning To Be a Participant Observer 20
Observation and Participation 21
Participation and Observation: An Oxymoron in Action? 28
What Determines the Role a Researcher Will Adopt? 30
Limits to Participation? 33
Beyond the Reflexivity Frontier 35
Participant Observation on the Fast Track 38
Notes 39
Chapter 3 Doing Participant Observation: Becoming a Participant 41
Entering the Field 41
First Contact 44
Establishing Rapport 47
Breaking Through 54
Talking the Talk 56
Walking the Walk 58
Making Mistakes 61
Notes 66
Chapter 4 The Costs of Participation: Culture Shock 67
Coping with Culture Shock 73
Participating and Parenting: Children and Field Research 74
Reverse Culture Shock (Reentry Shock) 77
Note 78
Chapter 5 Doing Participant Observation: Becoming an Observer 79
The Role of Theory and Conceptual Frameworks 80
Taking the Observer Role 81
Attending to Detail: Mapping the Scene 81
(Participatory) Community Mapping 84
Counting 85
Attending to Conversation 87
Field Notes as a Training Tool for Observation 87
Seeing Old Events with New Eyes 88
Practicing and Improving Observation and Memory 88
What to Observe 89
Just Experiencing 92
Limits to Observation 92
Ethnographer Bias 94
Notes 96
Chapter 6 Gender an Sex Issues in Participant Observation 99
The Gendered Ethnographer 99
Up Close and Personal: Sex in the Field 102
Note 108
Chapter 7 Designing Research with Participant Observation 109
Participant Observation and Research Design 109
Fundamentals of Design of Participant Observation 111
Objectivity 111
Reliability 112
Elements of Design 123
Choosing a Question 123
Appropriate Questions 124
Choosing a Site 126
Appropriate Methods and the Benefits of Triangulation 127
Enhancing Representativeness: Sampling in Participant Observation 128
Proposing Participant Observation 133
Research Objectives 135
Notes 136
Chapter 8 Informal Interviewing in Participant Observation 137
Types of Interviews 138
Interview Techniques 142
Active Listening 142
Sensitive Silence 143
The Uh-huh Prompt 145
Repetition Feedback 147
Summary Feedback 148
Asking Questions in Interviewing 149
Tell Me More 149
For Clarification 150
Naïve Questions 150
Avoiding Confrontation 151
Changing Topics 152
Talking About Sensitive Subjects 153
Concluding an Interview 155
Notes 156
Chapter 9 Writing Field Notes 157
History 157
Kinds of Field Notes 160
Jot Notes 160
Expanded Notes: Field Notes Proper 165
Methodological Notes 168
Diaries and Journals 168
Logs 169
Meta-notes/Analytic Notes 170
Headnotes 171
Field Notes in Virtual Research 173
How to Record 174
Research Integrity: Who Owns the Field Notes 176
Notes 178
Chapter 10 Analyzing Field Notes 179
Process of Data Analysis 180
Managing Qualitative Data 180
Data Reduction 181
Approaches to Indexing 184
Coding for Themes 189
Coding for Characteristics 192
Managing Coding and Indexing 192
Word Searches 193
Data Display 196
Quotes 196
Vignettes and Cases 197
Tables and Matrices 198
Charts 199
Decision Modeling 202
Interpretation and Verification 202
Audit Trails 205
Writing Up 207
Notes 210
Chapter 11 Ethical Concerns in Participant Observation 211
Need for Competency 212
The Meaning of Informed Consent in Participant Observation 214
Right to Privacy 218
Ethical Conduct of Participant Observation in Online Settings 219
Ethical Publication 221
Relationships 222
Ethics and the Limits to Participation 224
Note 226
Appendix: Sample Field Notes from Three Projects 227
Bibliography 251
Index 265
About the Authors 277
