Observation & Ethnography (COMM251-L6)

Fieldwork Observation

•Derives from anthropology and sociology

•Qualitative researchers travel to unfamiliar research sites, develop successful relationships with their inhabitants, engage with them in activities yielding relevant information, and create records of that interaction required for subsequent phases of the research project.

•This is also known as ethnography.

Goals of Ethnography

•Describing and interpreting the observable relationships between social practices and systems of meaning, based upon "firsthand experience and exploration" of a particular cultural setting.

Being Successful with Ethnography

•Tolerance for marginality: observers usually occupy a liminal position.

•Embodiment: Researchers embody themselves in the scene with an immersive experience

•Spontaneous decision-making: the ability to notice the evidence of something

•Being ethical: no harm

Types of Participation

1. Complete Participation

2. Participant as Observer

3. Complete Observer

Complete Partcipation

•Pretense: researchers are fully recognized and functioning members of the scene.

•Immerse to understand social action.

Why do contemporary fieldworkers not embrace the role of full participant?

•It restricts the freedom of movement at the site and our ability to negotiate customized relationships with others.

•The compartmentalization required by this role is a difficult and precarious achievement (having their cover blown).

•May lose analytic detachment (less objective).

•May create ethical problems (as a form of deception).

Participant as Observer

•Site members openly acknowledge the professional motives of researchers.

•Researchers are not obligated to meet the stringent standards of complete and constant membership

•Researchers are more like visitors = harder to become an insider

•It is important to build a trusting relationship between the researcher and site members.

Complete Observer

•Remote observation with no interventions or connections, without being noticed.

•A least preferred role in contemporary qualitative researchers.

The absence of meaningful contact with participants denies them the opportunity to influence our evolving interpretations.

•Operate best with free-access settings

Observing online communities (chat rooms).

Tactical Observing ?s

- Who are the actors?

- How is the scene set up?

- How do initial interactions occur?

- Where and when do actors interact?

Who are the actors?

•What are their names? What are the titles of their positions?

•What formal responsibilities are tied to those positions' titles? How do the role occupants perform their responsibilities?

•How do others in the scene respond to these performances?

•What do these interactions suggest about the informal and unofficial dimensions of these roles?

•By answering these questions, researchers can learn more about the structure of the scene of their choice and power relationships

How is the scene set up?

•How its participants select and display various artifacts to signify what they find important and how they wish to be viewed by others.

•E.g., Bryan used to work for a university in Texas where, according to the legend, one of its presidents casually left a pistol out on his desk during meetings he held during a period of faculty protest.

•By observing this, researchers can understand the relationship between artifacts and actors. They may notice that certain props are needed for certain events of work and play to occur at all

How do initial interactions occur?

•Observing persons interacting for the first time (e.g., in a coffee shop meeting or online dating services) can indicate which norms they view as relevant for that situation.

•Who speakers first and to whom? How do they speak?

•What do they accomplish by speaking that way?

•How long is the interaction? How do the participants decide when it has ended?

•You may think about the casual conversations that occur when people are waiting in line as an example.

Where and when do actors interact?

•Who associates with whom and under what conditions?

•How participants coordinate their actions to achieve specific purposes.

Makers

•interactional behaviors that situate bodies to signify a particular type of relationship (e.g., holding hands or interlocking arms to indicate a particular type of relationship).

Tie Signs

• material symbols and artifacts that indicate a type of relationship (e.g., wedding rings, small children, nicknames, outfits)

Field Notes

•Without these notes, observation details will fade from your memory and become invalid as a source of evidence for your final claims.

•It should be in writing because recording without permission may lead you to legal problems, especially when you are observing human subjects.

•So, DO NOT record without permission

Taking Good Fieldnotes Part 1

•Write down your field notes as soon as possible during or after each fieldwork session.

•Length: 10 double-spaced pages of writing for every hour of participant observation.

•Reflect on a chronological record of your involvement, such as important details about all phases of your project.

•A commitment to preserving the situated character of observed communication

Taking Good Fieldnotes Part 2

•We tend to have a preference for paying more attention to certain things, but you should resist this because every scene can have its own uniqueness.

•Record the early experiences, especially if you are learning how to do something.

•Extensive description of appearances (avoid asking the question of why; focus more on who, what, when, where, and how).