Nonparticipant Observation

Concept Overview and Discussion

Nonparticipant observation has a long history in the social and behavioral sciences. It is distinguished from participant observation by the observer's level and kind of involvement in the research setting, the nonparticipant observer adopting a more distant [Page 610]and separate role. At its most extreme, the nonparticipant observer has no contact whatsoever with the researched, but watches and records events through one-way mirrors or with cameras.

Nonparticipant observation may be overt or covert. When overt, participants understand that the observer is there for research purposes: The observer is present during organizational activities and has a role clearly distinct from that of organizational members. When observation is covert—either by hidden cameras or by an observer pretending not to be studying the setting—participants are unaware that they are being studied.

Because observation involves physically entering into the world of the researched, spending much time around them, and often being privy to quite sensitive issues, a critical first step is building trust and developing empathy with participants. This is especially important for those who at first might be wary of being researched. Developing strong relationships with participants not only increases the level of access that can be attained, but also deepens the insights gained into their world. At the same time, it holds the danger of the observer “going native,” which happens when he or she overidentifies with those he or she studies.

The observation process is a three-stage funnel, according to James Spradley, beginning with descriptive observation, in which researchers carry out broad scope observation to get an overview of the setting, moving to focused observation, in which they start to pay attention to a narrower portion of the activities that most interest them, and then selected observation, in which they investigate relations among the elements they have selected as being of greatest interest. Observation should end when theoretical saturation is reached, which occurs when further observations begin to add little or nothing to researchers' understanding. This usually takes a period of days or months, but, depending on the phenomenon in question, sometimes several years.

Key to good nonparticipant observation is the taking of detailed field notes to record what has been observed. Researchers may also use audio or video recorders or cameras to capture activities in the setting, technologies that, as they become smaller and less expensive, are becoming more common in case study research. This way of capturing the raw data can be of great value, not only securing incidents or exchanges that might have been missed or forgotten, but also allowing the researcher and others to revisit a faithful record of the data long after the field work is finished.

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