Term
| 3 strengths of participant observation |
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Definition
1.only way for difficult areas of research
2.confidant-bond between researcher and social group
3.Ethical consideration-overtly/covertly
4.Versten (empathetic understanding/seeing the world through another's eyes)
5.high validity |
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Term
| 6 weaknesses of participant observation |
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Definition
1.time consuming/expensive
2. Hawthorne effect- observer presence causes the group to act differently
3.covertly-ethical issues
4.Going native-begin to see in the perspective of the social group
5.lack reliability
6.lacks objectivity
7.observer effects e.g gender |
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Term
| Venkatesh (2008) gang leader for a day |
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Definition
-> Venkatesh spent 10 years overtly observing the black kings crack gang in Chicago.
->managed to befriend the gang leader
-> suffered from guilty knowledge as he saw drive bys and financial records |
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Term
| Humphreys (1970)Tea room trade |
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Definition
->interested in social behaviour of homosexual men as they met in public toilets
-> covert participant observation which he followed with unstructured interviews
->acted as a lookout
used this information to interview gay men pretending to be conducting a survey on health |
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Term
| what is participant observation? |
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Definition
| observation involving a sociologist joining a group to gain insight into the group's behaviour. can be used for Ethnography |
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Term
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Definition
| an in depth study of a group or culture which tries to gain insight into their way of life |
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