SOC221H5 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Grounded Theory, Participant Observation
Document Summary
You expect different ways of interpreting things. Better to observe what happened yourself than to ask someone else since there are biases and error in recollection. Ethnography/participant observation : going out into the field and collecting info through your own observations. Being exploratory is field research"s greatest strength. Explanations are not causal explanations, it is trying to make sense of what is happening. Dat t gathering to test hypotheses, which can support or contradict a theory. You need to check the field out from time to time. It is not enough to just enter the setting. Almost always incorporates interviewing since someone is almost always part of the setting. You need systems to manage your data (recording, etc ) Look for what"s important in your data, it is a form of data reduction. Grounded theory: posing questions but it"s not iike you generated that after reading a case or study. Watch / sometimes talk to people in a natural setting.
