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Team:Sheffield/sociobricks/Part:SBa M0007/information
From 2014.igem.org
Registry of Standard Policy and Practice Parts
SBa_M0007: Ethnographical Observation
Contents |
Strengths
This method gives the researcher a firsthand experience to actually see what people do, rather than going on what people say they do; this means the observer can determine what does and does not occur.
As the observer is watching, they may be able to see things that could escape the awareness of the participants in the setting. This helps to understand contextual factors and what happens in different settings.
It is a good method for descriptive data, which has a moderate level of realism.
Limitations
Sometimes, the reason behind the observed behaviour may be unclear making it difficult to draw conclusions. Again, similar to focus groups (SBa_M0006), people may behave differently when they know they are being watched.
If research is being carried out over a long period of time, the observer may go ‘native’ leading to investigator effects such as personal bias and selective perception of what is occuring.
Some settings cannot be observed so this could be a limiting factors.
It is a more time and cost expensive method as there is a lot of data to analyse after the observations are complete
Further information
- Agar, Michael (1996) The Professional Stranger: An Informal Introduction to Ethnography. Academic Press
- http://www.americanethnography.com/ethnography.php
