Participant Observation
Design Anthropology
Participant observation is when the researcher takes part in the activity that they are observing. This allows the researcher an insider perspective and can help participants feel more at ease with the observer, leading to otherwise unobtainable insights and connections.
“Our methodology is defined by the oxymoron "participant observation," is split at the root: act as a participant, but don't forget to keep your eyes open. Lay down in the mud in Colombia. Put your arms around Omaira Sanchez, but when the grant money runs out, or the summer vacation is over, please stand up, dust yourself off, go to your desk, and write down what you saw and heard. Relate it to something you've read by Marx, Weber, Gramsci, or Geertz and. you're on your way to doing anthropology.”
— Ruth Begar, The Vulnerable Observer Pg 5
Procedure
Preparation
Join group
Create contacts
Attend group events
In person
Being a participant is easy. Just go to an event and play along. It is best if you have prior experience and if you don’t to do some research beforehand so that you are not a burden to the group you are studying or in some way change their normal group dynamics.
At the same time you want to make sure you are taking mental notes of important things that you notice. If you are being explicit with your research goals, you might also be able to take a notebook and scribble down some notes as you go.
Analysis
Immediately after each session write down your reflection.
Reflection is especially important for this method because of the general lack of real time note taking, so getting your ideas down while they are fresh is key.
Analysis is also a good time to reflect and try to pick up on things that you did not notice in the moment.
Use Case
For this project we were studying waste management and art creation in the Eskenazi Museum of Art. To do this we decided to partake in an open studio session at the museum.
I sat with the other artists and created my own sculpture out of items that I found in the waste bin. My scavenging through the waste bin raised some eyebrows, but was successful in getting people to engage about both art creation and waste management.
I learned a lot from the art therapist and undergraduate student who were running the studio as well as from other participants at the table.
Strengths
This method was particularly useful because as soon as I began making the art everyone stopped paying attention to the fact that my teammate was taking pictures and taking notes, allowing for a free flow of conversation.
Weaknesses
This method can be quite limiting when the groups you are wanting to observe are exclusive in their requirements for membership. For example, if you are wanting to observe a high level sports club, but you cannot play said sport, you can hardly participate in a non obtrusive way.
