Tvisebrivi meTodebi socialur kvlevaSi - Center for Social Sciences

Historically, participant observation was first developed by anthropologists and
ethnographers, and was considered as a means to learn about distinctive culture.
Contemporary participant observation as it is practiced by most social sciences, can be
applied in modern as well as in non-modern societies; its major aim as well as its major
advantage is the possibility to study a distinctive (sub)culture and explain its meanings as
they are understood and interpreted by its members. Paradoxically, it is considered that
studying unfamiliar cultures is usually more effective than researchers’ own culture, because
in the latter case the researcher can not approach his/her own culture as a complete
stranger.
Participant observation is always a long-time commitment and usually takes years to
collect the data. It starts with entering the field, establishing contact with the actors, finding
informants. Characteristics of good informants are also discussed during the lecture.
During the fieldwork, the researcher defines the exact focus of observations, starting
with descriptive stage of observation and eventually arriving to selective observation.
Fieldnotes are discussed in detail, as a way to document how the fieldwork proceeds.
As an example of possible analytic strategy used by participant observers, W.F.White’s
classical analysis of group structure in the Street Corner Society will be presented, to be
further discussed during next week’s class.
There is only one homework assignments for this week:
The students are required to go to a public library in pairs, take different seats and
observe what’s going on in the library for 3 hours. They are required to take notes during the
observation, but not to share any observations with each other. Immediately after the
observation, they have to write (again, separately) fieldnotes based on what they’ve
observed, and submit them.
Required readings for this week are:
James P. Spradley. 1997. Participant Observation. New York: Holt, Rhinehart and
Winston. Pp. 53-62; 73-84; 100-111; 122-129.
William Foote White. 1993. Street Corner Society: The Social Structure of an Italian
Slum. Forth edition. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Pp. 3-51; 94-110; 279-373.
Recommended readings:
H. Russel Bernard. 2002. Research Methods in Anthropology. Qualitative and
Quantitative Approaches. Third edition. AltaMira Press. Pp. 323-364 (“Participant
Observation”).
Week 5.
Participant Observation (continued)
Lecture, 1 hour; discussion, 3 hours
During our fifth week, we continue to learn participant observation, in particular – how to
write fieldnotes during the fieldwork, and how to transform them into the research report.
Relatively little new material will be delivered during this week; instead, we will focus of
detailed discussion of (a) fieldnotes submitted by the students as a result of observations
they made, and (b) readings from White’s Street Corner Society.
By next week, the students have to make final decisions regarding their course projects,
so these discussions will be particularly helpful at this stage.
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