SOC 7141 Chapter 8: SOC 7141 - Chapter 8 (Observation)

• School: University of Ottawa
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOC 7141
• Professor: Kathleen Rodgers

Document Summary

Writing everything down is not possible so it may be necessary to start broad and then concentrate on your questions. Four types of observation: complete participant: they are fully engaged with the persons they are observing. This may help established a greater final report: participant as an observer: they are participating in the activity at the site. Being a participant is more prominent and may help provide greater insight and collect subjective data. But it also may be distracting if they are too integrated within the current situation: non-participant: they are an outsider to the group they are studying, making notes from a distance. There is no direct involvement: complete observer: they are not noticed by anyone. You may change your role during your observation, perhaps using two out of four of these methods. Recording procedures: the interview protocol helps a person to take notes during the interview about the interviewee response.