Slides

1. GEOG 420 / POL 420 / SOC 420
Fall 2019

4.  Focus on Social Life & Participant Experiences
 Emphasis on Exploratory Questions
 Use of Inductive Reasoning
 Flexible Research Design
 Researcher Subjectivity

6.  Case Studies
 Ethnography
 Netnography

8.  Social science research is rooted in some kind
of observational technique
 We collect data in this way everyday
 Examples?

9.  Direct vs. Indirect
 Participant vs. Nonparticipant
 Overt vs. Covert
 Structured vs. Unstructured

10.  Participant Observation
 Investigator is both actor and spectator
 Regular participant in the activities being observed
 Example: Studying Campaigns; Social Problems
 Nonparticipant Observation
 Observer does not participate in group’s activities
or become a member of the group or community
 Example: City Council Meetings

11.  Acceptance by group is necessary
 Use of informants
 Advantages? Disadvantages?

12. Ruth Horowitz

13. ADVANTAGES
 Natural Setting
 Opportunity to
observe for long
periods of time
 Degree of accuracy
and completeness
DISADVANTAGES
 Many behaviors not
accessible for
observation
 Lack of control over the
environment
 “Small-N” Problem

14.  Overt Observation
 Those being observed are aware of the investigator’s
presence and intentions
 Covert Observation
 Investigator’s presence is hidden or undisclosed
 His or her intentions are disguised
 Example: Public Restrooms and HandWashing

15.  Structured Observation
 Investigator looks for and systematically records
incidence of specific behaviors
 Unstructured Observation
 All behavior is relevant, at first, and recorded
 Investigator later distinguishes between
important and insignificant

17.  Nonverbal Behavior
 Spatial Behavior
 Linguistic Behavior
 Extralingustic Behavior

18. ADVANTAGES
 Researcher Control
 Convenience
DISADVANTAGES
 Subjects know they
are being observed
(Hawthorne Effect)

19.  People behave as they would ordinarily
 Investigator able to observe for longer than
possible in laboratory setting

20.  “Going Native”
 Field Notes

22.  The act of asking individuals a series of
questions and recording their responses
 Types of Interviews:
 Structure-Scheduled
▪ Least Flexible; Identical Number/Wording of Questions
 Focused
▪ Subjects’ Experiences; Respondents’ Freedom of Expression
 Non-Directive
▪ No Specific Set of Questions; Interviewer Freedom