Covert Participant Observation

1065 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Sociological theories in gangs

Assess the usefulness of participant observation in sociological research. In this short essay I will give a skilled weighed argument of the usefulness and non-usefulness of a participant observation. I will back up the points made during this piece with sociologists I have studied. After, which I will then reach a conclusion where I will justify the argument in depth. Observation means watching behaviour in real-life settings. A covert participant observation is when the subject(s) you’re studying doesn’t know that you’re actually studying them. An overt participant observation means that the subject(s) you’re studying are aware of the fact that you’re studying them. There are many reasons …show more content…

These sociologists studied a gang, in which they hoped to gain a deeper insight to the different behaviour of these people towards society. James Paterick studied a Glasgow gang under a false name for fear of his own life. This was a covert participant observation and relates to the point made about the risks of joining in with a deviant group and how it does have its advantages such as getting valid data, but there’s always a catch. Elliot Liebow studied the black ‘street corner’ men in Washington DC. The idea was to win over the group leader Tally, but to also find out the gangs reasons for this issue about ‘reputation’. This was another covert participant observation and once more backs up the statement about the pro’s and cons of studying a deviant group as it illustrates that you are likely to form a bond if you go undercover and therefore be able to provide trustworthy data, but you need to be careful of knowing how far you can go before you’ve reached the maximum level of trust. Ken Pryce is the perfect example for getting too involved in a

Show More
Related

  • Ethnographic study

    2123 Words  | 5 Pages

    This essay is an ethnographic study of Whole Foods Market which is located in Kensington, London. Whole Foods Market is a niche supermarket that sells high quality organic and natural products at high prices. In this essay, I will provide a brief orientation of ethics with regards to the concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility - macroethics and Business Ethics - microethics and the theoretical frameworks of consequentialism, deontology and virtue ethics. I will be using deontology framework in ethics devised by Immanuel Kant to assess if the marketing strategy and the products sold at Whole Foods Market support their principle of ‘organic and natural’.

    Read More

  • Human Observation Project Paper

    898 Words  | 2 Pages

    The problem behavior associated with individuals making bad food choices when presented with unhealthy food will need to be observed so that we may understand how to change this behavior as it is unhealthy and harmful to health overall. Are poor choices in different foods causing obesity? Making poor choices when it comes to food is an

    Read More

  • The Blind Side Sociology Analysis

    1097 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the blockbuster movie The Blind Side, director John Lee Hancock brings to light an emotionally charged and compelling story that describes how a young African American teenager perseveres through the trials, tribulations and hardships that surround his childhood. The themes of class, poverty, and also the love and nurturing of family encapsulate the film mainly through the relationship that Mrs. Tuohy and Michael Oher build during the entirety of the movie. This analysis will bring together these themes with sociological ideas seen throughout the course.

    Read More

  • Examples Of Sociological Observation

    1810 Words  | 4 Pages

    Observation allows researchers to experience a specific aspect of social life and get a firsthand look at a trend, institution or behaviour. It promotes good communication skills, improves decision making and enhances awareness.

    Read More

  • Participant Observation in Anthropology

    1760 Words  | 4 Pages

    Participant observation is a method of collecting information and data about a culture and is carried out by the researcher immersing themselves in the culture they observing. The researcher becomes known in the community, getting to know and understand the culture in a more intimate and detailed way than would be possible from any other approach. This is done by observing and participating in the community’s daily activities. The method is so effective because the researcher is able to directly approach the people in the community in a natural context as opposed to taking the participant out of their environment. The aim of participant observation is to gain an understanding the subject’s life from their perspective, with the purpose of collecting more detailed information about a community’s habits, opinions, relationships and issues.

    Read More

  • Social Observation on Human Interactions

    1098 Words  | 3 Pages

    By using observation method, a wide variety of behavior can be recorded. Picking through the garbage on the side of the road can reveal behaviors of fast-food customers, or sitting for only one hour in the university canteen can understand the gender differences in choosing (diet) meal, or even watching the customer’s behavior from deciding which yogurt to be taken off its store shelves in the supermarket can also answer the question: Are the customers be attracted by its appearance or flavor or price or brand or nutrition? The aim of this observation assignment is to evaluate and explain the different types of interactions between individual and groups present, as well as the environment in which these interactions take place. The field observation was conducted at the Vietnamese fast-food restaurant named “We love Banhmi” in Budapest, and the role adopted, was that of observer as a non-participant. Group structures as well as overall activity, patterns of behavior, and the duration and timing of such behaviors and interactions were observed and recorded. Sociological concepts pertaining to age, gender, and appearance were also noted and applied.

    Read More

  • Sociological Theory

    1016 Words  | 3 Pages

    With a sociological approach for education, a teacher is able maintain a holistic view of their role as a teacher and the connections between the classroom and their participants. This theory can be learned, then similar to the learning of morals, cannot be unlearned. For the teacher’s lens, sociology acts the zoom mechanism for macro to micro perspectives of the influences on the classroom. While applying this theory teacher are able to adjust and adapt culturally responsive teaching with an increased understanding of their teacher identity, a more informed understanding of their community, and a critical perspective of curriculum. The concepts of sociology can be applied with the sociological imagination to teacher identity and historical

    Read More

  • Three Sociological Perspectives

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    This paper discusses three approaches that can be taken when studying Sociology. There are many subjects to be studied and discussed in the field of Sociology, and the approach chosen to study a particular subject is called a perspective. There are three different perspectives, and they are functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. This paper compares and contrasts these different perspectives with one another.

    Read More

  • Cultural Observation Essay Example

    844 Words  | 2 Pages

    For a long time, the popular belief about anthropology was that it was the study of “far away” or “exotic” cultures. After my 10 weeks in Professor Michael Perez’s Anthropology 101 class, I now know this to be anything but the truth. My immediate thought’s for a cultural event to observe were reflective of these misconceptions – I considered an Indian wedding, a winter festival, a family friend’s Quinceanera. Nothing stood out to me.

    Read More

  • Participant Observation In Anthropology

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Culture is beautifully complex. Cultural practices naturally, therefore, are made up of intricate implicit and explicit thoughts and behaviours. Participant-observation is at the centre of anthropological research because it allows the anthropologist to experience rather than read. Bronislaw Malinowski, regarded as the father of participant-observation, created a scientific framework for how research could be conducted in the field. This framework has evolved as anthropology has changed over the ages. In this essay, I will compare and contrast the central premises of Malinowski’s 1922 book Argonauts of the Western Pacific and a contemporary anthropologist Nancy Kalow’s article Living Dolls which reflects on the participant-observation she carried

    Read More

  • Sociological Reflection

    1072 Words  | 3 Pages

    Sociology is something I didn’t know about until I took this class. This class introduced sociology to me. I learned about how society basically made boys supposed to like blue and girls supposed to like pink. Sociology is “the systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior, from large-scale institutions and mass culture to small groups and individual interactions” (Ferris and stein 2014: p9). Sociology is not something you just learn when you are just born. You learn about sociology throughout your life. Sociology is displayed around things such as being around different environments, friends, and family. Education is a sociology idea that can examine a person’s class and schooling. The higher the education you have,

    Read More

  • Principal Component Analysis Of PCA

    1617 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...ferred because it produces meaningful information about each data point and where it falls within its normal distribution, plus provides a crude indicator of outliers. (Ben Etzkorn 2011).

    Read More

  • Social And Social Construction Of Reality In Society

    1442 Words  | 3 Pages

    Social construction of reality is defined as social interaction shaped by the people. Human interaction, understanding, and meaning are not shaped by or within the individual, but in coordination with other human beings. When we are making friends or enemies, we are building new relationships. This is social construction. When a company goes bankrupt, some employees become unemployed and lose hope finding a new job. This is social construction. Social constructionism means reality is always changing, and it is based on how a society perceives what is real or normal. When an earthquake happens, for example, Californians think is a product of tectonic plates moving. However, native tribes view this as a message from a god as a punishment to humans.

    Read More

  • Sociology: The Study Of Sociology In Everyday Life

    1100 Words  | 3 Pages

    Before I started taking the course of sociology I wasn’t really expecting to learn anything, it was just supposed to be an easy online class. However, that was not the case. It challenged my mind. I started to see sociology all around me, starting with family, then friends, and how I see things overall in general. The fact that we have an everyday life in which there are patterns in ways of living is what sets a platform for a sociological breakdown and for being a part in what we do. A better way of understanding ourselves. We use sociology in many ways every day. One central and important study of sociology is the study of everyday social life. Everyday life and sociology are definitely two different words and situations, but they tend to hold a close relationship. While sociology is the study of the human interaction, everyday life consists of everyday human interaction. Everyday life is filled by human beings interacting with one another, ideas, and emotions. Sociology studies the interactions with all of these and shows how mere interaction resulted in things such as ideas. For an example, race and ethnicity are important concepts in the field of sociology and are ones that are studied a great deal. Race plays a large role in everyday human interactions and sociologists want to study how, why, and what the outcomes are of these interactions. Current sociological theories focus mainly on how there are many different factors in our everyday items of life, like movies. We were assigned a final to write a review for a movie in sociological form. The movie that was on the list that also happened to be one of my favorite movies, Toy Story. When we were assigned the assignment, I never thought about how in-depth it was with sociol...

    Read More

  • Jet Airways

    1939 Words  | 4 Pages

    In order to make useful, there are some characteristics such as being practical and dependable. As a dependable for it must be acurate, unbiased and verifiable and practically accounting information must be compareable, prepared in a time frame, user friendly, consistent and able to differentiate.

    Read More

More about Covert Participant Observation

Open Document