Workshop: Participant observation (course content)

Now it’s your turn to participant (and/or inquisitive and/or even just plain-old) observe. What that entails: a) Figuring out what and where and when to observe; b) Observing (ideally using all of your senses); and c) Taking notes, reviewing notes, and then sharing those reviewed notes.

Think about your research project for this course. What kind of observation can lead you to usable data and, later, better understandings or even epiphanies related to your research question?

Because we are learning, foremost, about the method of participant observation (as opposed to plain-old observation), our science case study authors focused on observation among groups of people:

• Seeger participant observed among all-aged members of an indigenous community in Brazil in order to think about if/how music shapes society.
• Bestor “inquisitive” observed among Japanese market vendors in Tokyo in order to understand things like the logics that inform how stalls are organized in the biggest seafood market in the world.
• Beresin and her students observed children in the U.S. in order to understand if/how children use play to make sense of tragedy.

But now HERE is where I tell you that in this course you can choose to conduct an observation of a group of people, of a space/place, of an event, of the natural world, or more. So think about what fits your needs as a researcher right now.

As a series of steps, your research should look more or less like the following:

1 Choose what and where to observe, and make sure this can happen by 11:59pm on Sunday. (Write me if you are having trouble choosing what and where and/or if you need an extension.)

2 Make sure the kind of observation you have chosen as a best fit for your research project this semester is ethical,

Question 1: Does whatever you have in mind have the potential to hurt animals, including humans? Y/N

Question 2: Does whatever you have in mind get you in trouble with society? Y/N

If you answered “yes” to either of these questions, you need a different observation plan.

3 Go. Get “into the field.” And observe, using each of your senses, while taking notes.

With a pen and notebook in hand, or tied to a string around your neck, or somewhere close by OBSERVE (for an hour, for a day, other — you choose what makes sense given your project) while also TAKING NOTES.***

Observation Tip 1: Keep an eye out for patterns and/or themes, whether expected or not.

Observation Tip 2: Look for things that might be especially useful to you given your specific research question(s). See Seeger and Bestor and Beresin (who you just read) for examples of how researchers use their questions to guide their observing.

*I ask that you hand-write your notes. This is called: old-school, experiential research practice.

**What happens when taking notes interferes with your ability to participate? In this case, you memorize, as best you can, and then furiously write out all that you noticed and remember from your observation as soon as you are able to do so.

4 After you have completed your observation, look back through your notes. Highlight the parts of your notes that you think will be most useful to you when writing-up your final research paper.

Very important, often forgotten:

It is okay to try out a method and fail to find usable data via that method. If you aren’t finding anything useful, try changing the space / place / community in which you are studying. If you still cannot find anything useful, in your post to the Canvas discussion this week: name at least two “sites” in which you studied, followed by the word “nothing.” I will reach out to you with additional ideas as they occur to me.

Good luck,

DP
May 2019