1. Immediate activity No notes, no text books, no discussion
Read the question and response carefully and explain why the student got zero marks. Thinking like an examiner helps you to understand how to gain marks and avoid common exam mistakes
Write your own answer to the question
Challenge: Crack the code to reveal an important factor that sociologists must consider when choosing their research method.

3. Researcher makes true identity known to those being observed and is open to what they are doing.

4. Check your work
Important note: Just as many researchers use a mixture of positivist and interpretivist methodologies some researcher may use a mix of overt and covert observations, known as semi overt, where they reveal their identity and purpose to some participants but not all

5. Unstructured Observation
Participant observation – immersed in the situation
Favoured by interpretivists
Qualitative data
Can investigate not just what happens but also the meaning of people’s actions
No assumptions are made prior to the observation (unlike structured where the categories are pre determined)
Important note: This observational method is used more often than structured observations

6. Why would a researcher use observations?
Practical- Sometimes participant observations are the only way to gain access with particular groups, this is particularly the case when researching vulnerable groups or those involved in behaviour that people would otherwise keep secret.
“There is only one way to watch highly discreditable behaviour, and that is to pretend to be in the same boat with those engaging in it”
Participant observations can also be used in other situations where questioning (either through interviews or questionnaires) would be useless because the behaviour the researcher is interested in happens at an unconscious level, i.e. the person doing it is unaware of their behaviour for example in Cicourel’s study of police assumptions about ‘typical’ criminal behaviour in teenagers

7. Apply your knowledge
Your task: Read the information on Venkatesh’s gang leader for day study carefully
Explain why switching from a structured interview to an observation increased the validity of Venkatesh’s research.
Decide what type of observation Venkatesh ended up doing. Justify your decision by using evidence from the text.
Identify the practical, ethical and theoretical advantages and disadvantages of Venkatesh’s study.
You have 15 minutes for this task, write your answers down and be ready to discuss them with the class.

8. Exam questions
Transfer
Outline two advantages of using covert participant observation (4 marks)
Outline two ethical issues that may influence a sociologist’s choice of observation technique. (4 marks)
Challenge: William Whyte’s street corner study involved him (semi) covertly observing an inner city street gang for nearly three years, after the experience he commented that “ I started as a non participating observer and ended as a non observing participator”
Why do you think his levels of participation increased and his levels of observation decreased?
Why would positivist sociologists be highly critical of his work?

9. But what if your personal characteristics don’t match up?
Watch the clip carefully and consider how it shows why practically researchers conducting covert participant observations are limited by their own physical and social characteristics
Methods in context link: Why might this be particularly problematic when conducting research within schools?
So what other observation options could interpretivist researchers use if their own characteristics don’t match those of their target population?
Overt participant observation

10. Design your own observational research
Imagine that you are going to conduct a participant observation to study one of the following topics:
Working class pupil subcultures
Teacher labelling and social class
Class identity and achievement
Ethnicity and teacher discipline
Ethnicity and pupil subcultures
Pupil responses to ethnic stereotyping
You can’t conduct the research at this school- Think about the reasons why.
Things to consider:
Your own personal characteristics and how they shape your choice.
Overt or Covert?
Ethical considerations- Does increased validity justify your choice?
What practical limitations will you come across?
How will you get in and get out?
Challenge: Triangulation often gets the best results, what other research methods could you use to go alongside your observation? Why are they suitable? How will using them all well as your observation improve your research?

11. Ethics (Covert = deception/lack of informed consent)
E.G. Covertly observing teacher stereotyping but pretending to be investigating something else… results would be more valid, but there would be deception and no informed consent.
Therefore OVERT participant observations is more commonly used. This allows the researcher to become immersed and build rapport…
But what about post-research effects on group?!
Building trust and rapport…..only to walk away from the subjects to write up their findings. This may cause harm and upset the subjects, who may have confided in the researcher.
This links to another ethical point…..which one?
Important note: In Overt participant observation researchers interact with staff and students and engage in many of the activities they do, but there is no deception about who they are and why they are there.

12. Ethics – Non Participant Obs (no direct interaction with participants)
Does the method enable informed consent?
Informed consent may be difficult to obtain in participant, covert observations.
HOWEVER, if the observation is overt, there is less deceit. The researcher is openly observing, taking notes etc.
BUT….. younger children may not fully understand what they are consenting to and so consent would need to be given by parents and the school.
This may not always be given.
Why?
If consent is given, what theoretical problems may affect overt observations?
Comparing methods : An assumption is often made that school’s may refuse observations on the grounds of time and concerns about parents views however this is not always the case. The head of the London school Fuller conducted her black girls study in decided that observations would cause less disruptions than interviews, and as she was just observing normal classroom behaviour parental consent wasn’t needed, but it would have been had she been conducting interviews. Challenge: Why? Do you agree with the head’s decision?

13. No notes, no text books, no discussion
Name one study which used participant observation.
Explain the difference between overt and covert observation
Suggest two reasons why it might be difficult for the observer to gain the trust of the group they wish to study.
Why should participant observers avoid leadership roles within the group they are studying?

14. Validity: The Hawthorne Effect
Covert observations in schools is difficult as a ‘cover role’ is difficult to create. So most observations are overt BUT this leads to the Hawthorne effect.
King (1984) – attempted to ‘blend into the background’ in an infant school by hiding in the Wendy house!
What would the children have thought about the man hiding in the Wendy house?!
It is unlikely their behaviour would remain ‘normal’.

15. Overt participant observations in schools Other theoretical factors
Reliability- Would it be possible to repeat participant observations and get the same results?
Representativeness- There are over 34,000 schools in the UK, could you really observe in enough to claim that your data is representative and generalisable?
Hammersley argued that his presence in the staffroom created a problem in terms of how representative his data was, lots of teachers were suspicious of him, some even left the room when they saw him there! Only those who felt they had things in common with Hammersley (who was a young man at the time) tended to speak freely in front of him.
Why would this affect the representativeness of his data?