CRIM 321 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Sign System, Participant Observation, Billiard Hall
13 Feb 2020
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Lecture 5 participant observation and ethnography or how i learned to do social research. Observation as a research method involves looking with a purpose. The quantitative tradition suggests that data should be gathered to help us test theory. The qualitative tradition uses observation as a general-purpose strategy. Complete participant emerge yourself in the culture, and don"t reveal yourself as a researcher: post hoc observer: write after participation ends, surreptitious observer: participate without telling observed (infiltration) Complete observer the researcher observes, and does not try to hide the fact that he/she is a researcher: on home turf. Mix of participation and observation (participant-as-observer and observer-as- participant) Remember that not everything observed id recorded: you need to look with some reason and purpose. May be obtrusive or unobtrusive; may or may not involve manipulation. Attention to accurate recording of phenomenon is key. Sign system: the researcher waits and notes each time a predetermined criteria occurs (better for frequency counts)
