Summary
Contents
Subject index
Including coverage of the selection of cases, observation and interviewing, recording data, and takes into account ethical issues, Doing Ethnographic and Observational Research introduces the reader to the practice of producing data through ethnographic fieldwork and observational research.
Focus on Observation
Focus on Observation
Chapter objectives
After reading this chapter, you should
- know more about the concepts and procedures associated with the technique of observation; and thus
- understand better one of the three main ethnographic operations discussed in the previous chapter.
A definition of observation
We have seen that ethnographic research is a judicious mix of observation, interviewing, and archival study. Since other volumes in this series will treat the latter two in some detail (see Kvale, 2007; Rapley, 2007), we will take a closer look at observation here, both in its participant and non-participant aspects.
The key role of observation in social research has long been acknowledged. Indeed, our human ability to observe the world around us forms the basis for our ability to make commonsense judgments about things. Much of ...
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