Research Methods Chapter 7 Participant observation and case studies

William Foote White - Street Corner Society

"The participation of the researcher in the activities of the people being studied of the people being studied will be shaped in part by the degrees of differences in cultural backgrounds, race, or ethnic identification between the field worker and the study subjects."

Dean Champion argues that ....

If properly conducted observation is characterized by: -Observations capture the natural state -Observations grasp significant events or occurrences that might influence the social interactions of participants. -Determines what makes up reality -Identify regularities and recurrences in social life

The subject is in greater danger as a result of being studied in the field than is someone in ____________ .

Jail -The researcher is more of an intruder and the subjects are free to not participate

Other recording methods -Sanders

Left notebook open so that the subjects could observe what he was writing during his observations

Do not rely on ....

Memory

Case studies provides _______________________________ or in depth close up of one or only a few cases

Micro-criminological

Reciprocity and Protection of Identity

Mutual obligation in participant observation research -Since the participants have helped the researcher, does he or she owe a debt to the participants ?

Researchers should avoid taking ______________ on the spot of using _______________________

Notes Tape recorders

More time should be spent taking quality ___________ _____________ than time spent in the field

field notes

The methodology allows for a _____________ - _________________ of criminal behavior that contains the offenders perspective

full picture

The researcher must avoid over-socialization or "________________"

going native

Some researchers argue that participant observation methodology is __________________ ____________________ and immortal or "___________________ ________________" or necessary deception to obtain needed data

unpleasant manipulation psychological espionage

Photo novella

(picture stories) A form of photo interviewing allows for discussion

Different types of participant observation :

-Complete Participation -Participant as observer -Observer as participant -Complete observation

William Foote White quote

-During the beginning weeks the field will generally yield little data of lasting value -It takes time to fit into the scene and adjust to the people, gain acceptance, and begin to understand what is going on

Advantages of Participant Observation

-Excellent tool for gathering qualitative data on subjects that little is known about -The method produces less prejudgments -The method is less disturbing to respondents than experiments -It is more flexible and natural as a data gathering technique -After being in the field for a while, contradictions between attitudes and behavior become apparent

Hagan (2010, p187) provides

-It takes some time before the newcomer is accepted to the degree that the group becomes less suspicious and begins to act more natural -The smaller the group, the more time it will take for the newcomer to be accepted

Richard T. and colleague suggest the following roles to gain entry to study a group or subculture

-Knowledgeable insider -Potential participant -Marginal member -Emphatic outsider -Knowledgeable outsider working with a knowledgeable insider

This can help with recall ....

-Tape recorders -Videotapes -Films -Other mechanical devices

Disadvantages of Participant Observation

-The problem of gaining entry into and being accepted by a group is problematic -The method is time consuming and could affect the researcher personally and professionally

The researcher must operate on two levels

1. Becoming an insider 2. Remaining an outsider

Major purpose of Observations

1. Capture human conduct as it actually happens, to permit us to view the pocusseual features of behavior 2. Provide more graphic descriptions of social life than can be acquired in other ways 3. Learn in an exploratory sense

Orenstein and Phillips recommend ....

A detailed explanation be given to the leaders, sponsors, or contacts who must answer for the researchers presence

Mnemonics

A system of memorizing. It is used in field research when note taking is impossible or unwise -The process allows the researcher to later reconstruct in exact details what transpired

Participant Observation refers to

A variety of strategies in which the researcher studies a group in its natural setting by observing its activities and to varying degrees, participating in its activities.

James W. Marquart studied ....

Aspects of guard work as a prison guard for 19 months in TDC collecting data on prison life -He gained credibility from guards after physically putting down a tough inmate

Disatvanges of the case study method

Because they are time consuming, they are not conducted with the same broad magnitude as surveys -They are limited generalizatbility

__________________ suggests that researchers should cultivate a tolerant attitude while trying to understand from the same point of view as their subjects understand those activities that the researcher find distasteful

Becker

Gaining Access

Before becoming an insider, learn the language of the group under investigation. Avoid overusing it and trying too hard to be an insider

Mistakes are made in every research design:

Beginning Middle End

___________________ can be individual, people, neighborhoods, correctional facilities, courtrooms, or things

Cases

In the book, The Fence: In the shadow of Two Worlds, Steffenmeier used the following validity checks:

Cross Check interview format -Use a second, third, and fourth interview to measure the same thing -Some interviews were tap recorded

Observer as participant

Describes the one-visit interview typically with a victim or criminal -Unfortunately sometimes the interviewers are unaware that they are short-term participant observers

________________ study a group that you have long standing membership

Do not

One customary procedure to participant observation that researchers agree on :

Do not study a group that you have long standing membership. It would be difficult for the researcher to maintain objectivity -The membership will not treat someone it knows as a researcher

Ethical Dilemmas often ....

Emerge while in the field -Researchers must control their biases which could influence how they observe, record, and interpret

Complete observation

Experimental and unobtrusive measures -The researcher of Stein is instructive in this regard. He used one way mirrors to secretly observe and record hundreds of sessions between prostitutes and their clients

Some of us face the problem of maintaining perspective in any situation in which we participate intimately over a considerable period of time. True or False ?

False All of us will

Those who advocate the use of participant observation argue that .......

For too long we have been dependent on studies imprisoned criminals in an unnatural environment or on unquestioned use of official stats which has led to inaccurate views of criminals and criminal behavior

Reflective photography

Giving respondents cameras and asking them to take pictures that are explored in subsequent interviews

The researchers middle-class language and probing may become ......

Irritating to subjects

Why should you ask to brief the agency on your findings before you publish the results ?

It give them the opportunity to make slight changes before the information goes public

Complete participation

Occurs when the researcher not only joins in, but begins to manipulate the direction of group activity -This strategy is rare and is believed to violate the researchers role in the process

Experts argue that the initial introduction to criminals in the field may be gained by frequenting their haunts (__________________________________)

Places where people frequently hangout

Participant observation techniques have been used to conduct a disproportionate number of .....

Police studies investigations on police culture officer corruption

The problem of gaining entry into and being accepted by a group is ....

Problematic -The method is time consuming and could affect the researchers personal and professional life

Announcement of Intentions

Researchers should announce their intended purpose early to the group they intend to study -This allows the researcher not to pretend to be one of them. Most subjects will accept the explanation that the researcher is writing a book on the subject matter.

Researchers often rely on ________________ sampling

Snowball -Experts encourage field researchers to be "up-front" about their intended purpose in the field

Gate Keepers

Someone who is willing to accept the purpose of the study given by a researcher and vouch for his or her presence to others in the group -Gate keepers are essential to the research since they often hold the key to the researcher gaining entry into the social world of those to be researched

Dictaphones

Sound recording machines that reproduce dictation -Can also be a great device to use so that information can be later transcribed

Howard Becker suggests.....

That cabdrivers, reporters, bartenders, and cops are good sources of information on deviant hangouts

Going native occurs when .....

The researcher becomes so immersed in the study and group that the new identity becomes part of who he or she is

Field Notes

The researcher must keep extensive and detail notes or use diaries to record all observations -Record observations as often as possible

Visiual Criminology

The use of photography involves giving respondents cameras and asking them to take pictures

Sampling

The use of random sampling is *inappropriate* in participant observation research

Life History / Oral History

These techniques are typically used in case study methods -A life story, or a bibliographical interview that is a special type of field interviewing

Case Study Method

They are relatively thorough examinations of specific social settings, or particular aspects of social settings, including detailed psychological behavioral descriptions of persons in those settings -They are in-depth, qualitative studies of one or a few illustrative cases -Nearly every aspects of the subject's life is examined for patterns and causes of behavior -They can be exploratory, description or explanatory

Rank informants based on their reliability

This occurs when data collected from one source is assigned a low or high priority

Concerns for Accuracy

To ensure that participant observation researchers report matters correctly, they should use multiple forms of data sources to validate their findings -Data gathering by direct observation (by the researcher) -Data gathering by direct observation (from others) -Interviews corroborated by other documents -Data corroborated by several informants

The observer must report everything and cannot take things for granted as being normal (True or False?)

True

Participant as observer

Type that most people identify as the role of the researcher -This strategy requires that the researcher make his or her presence known and tries to objectively observe the activities of the group (without influencing it)

Using the participant observation approach the researcher intentionally attempts to ....

Understand phenomena from the standpoint of the actors or to gain critical insight via an understanding of the entire context and frame of reference of the subjects under investigation

When a researcher goes native they _____________________ their role as a researcher

abandon

Journalists use the term ____________________________ and others such as historians and social scientists may refer to them as documentary expression or oral history

autobiography

Experts notice that there has been a decline in the coverage of __________________________ in criminal justice and criminology texts in favor of quantitative methods

case studies

Subjects should be used to "__________" the accuracy of reports to ensure that there is no misinterpreting and misunderstanding

check

Gaining access to the social environment provides opportunity for the researcher to ______________ __________________ regarding the meaning of observations

check assumptions

Going native is ____________________ in participant observation studies

dangerous

Before the late 1970s, researchers gained entry into prisons on the basis of _______________________ or from having a relationship with a ____________________ person

employment connected -Since that time, gaining entry has become complicated

Sometimes ___________________ may be more willing to open up to neutral and reliable outsiders

informants

University of Chicago fully engaged in participant observation and case study methods in order to .....

investigate an abundance of social problems -The city was influenced by rapidly industrialiation, mass immigration, prohibition, the great depression, and effects of WWII *First time American scholars put their fingerprints on the study if crime*

The observer must be able to report patterns of behavior and interrelationships objectively and without ......

moral bias

Field research as a technique is viewed as a ______________ and __________________ technique

neglected underused

In the beginning the researcher should just ___________ _____________ and ________________ asking too many questions

observe listen avoid

The researcher asks ____________________________ questions to measure how someone understands their past

open-ended

The role of "____________" can be very valuable when subjects share important information

outsider

Because of problems associated with questionnaires and surveys, some researchers may prefer more natural field methods or qualitative measures, in the form of ......

participant observation

Protect the subjects identity by using _________________________________ to hide the names of subjects

pseudonyms

Researchers must learn to _____________ their personal distastes for the values and lifestyles of the untamed savages until they have gone out into the field to the cannibals and headhunters and observe them without trying to civilize or colonize them

remove

Jackson Toby criticized John Irwin for ______________________ _____________________

romanticizing criminals

Photographs can serve as a ....

second type of field notes

If one's status provides access to deviants groups, _____________ _________________

take advantage

The method is a __________________ generating technique

theory

Participant observation places high demands on ____________ and __________ cost

time personal -Cost refers to personal involvement -Usually always lasts for months or years. Never just weeks