Teaching qualitative research methods to undergraduates HEA Psychology Network Workshop 21 st -22 nd April, 2010 York

Qualitative Data Collection: Participant Observation Professor Nigel King Department of Behavioural Sciences University of Huddersfield

Participant Observation: Essentials to cover with students Definition Why use it? Levels of participation and their pros and cons Practicalities of observing and recording Ethics

Defining Participant Observation Researcher seeks to understand an aspect of the social world not just by observing it, but also by participating in it Widely used in Sociology and Social Anthropology Less common in Psychology, but is sometimes used

Why use Participant Observation? Allows social world to be examined in great depth Allows researcher to get behind “public face” of social world Longitudinal nature - enables researcher to see things changing over time - enables relationships with participants to build up over time

Levels of participation Overt or covert? Full participation (covert) Participant as observer Observer as participant Minimal participation

Using high levels of participation Advantages Very rich experience of social world you are observing Less likelihood of observer effects - especially if covert Disadvantages May become too involved and influential For covert researcher, danger of discovery Ethical issues: may be expected to share in unacceptable actions; if covert, by definition deceiving people

Using lower levels of participation Advantages Able to maintain enough distance to minimise undue influence Ethical dilemmas less likely Observation almost always overt, removing danger of discovery Disadvantages May not be involved enough to obtain insights from participation May not be able to build trust and encourage openness Socially undesirable actions may be concealed from your view

Practicalities of recording Note-taking as soon as possible after observation - may be concurrent if sure it will be acceptable and not distracting Write up notes at end of each day - often using structured format to aid organisation and facilitate analysis May tape-record informant interviews and formal meetings (with permission)

Example of headings for daily record sheet Date & time of session: People present: Main events of session: Notes on specific topics: (several headings) Personal feelings/impressions:

Observational biases Selective attention Only attending to most dramatic / interesting aspects Selective encoding ”Rush to judgement” - fit coding to your presuppositions Selective memory e.g. may recall incidents that confirmation of own expectations Interpersonal factors e.g Interpretation influenced by whether you like or dislike particular people

Ethics and Participant Observation Again, provides good opportunity for discussion Observing illegal / morally unacceptable activities - whether and when to intervene Confidentiality - especially amongst participants May be seen as betraying trust if come to conclusions participants dislike Deception - especially in covert observation Personal safety of researchers

Participant Observation exercise Ask students to design simple participant observation task in small groups (e.g. observing everyday public behaviour, social group of which they are member) Tutors ensure task is practical, ethical and safe Students carry out participant observation during week between practical sessions Next week carry out structured reflection on how it went