Question

What are some of the things that ethnographers and sociologists do during participant observation?

Answer 1

Participant observation is a method to study societies. Ethnographers and sociologists use this method when they have to conduct fieldwork that may last for months and years. Some of the things that ethnographers and sociologists do during participant observation are:

(i) They either live or spend most of their time with the community people upon which the research is to be carried out.

(ii) The sociologist or the ethnographer almost becomes like a part of the community.

(iii) They participate with the communities in their rituals and customs and record the observations on a regular basis.

(iv) The sociologists and ethnographers have limited people from the community on whom they depend for the information. These people are called informants or principal informants.

(v) Although the sociologist’s goal is to study a specific area of interest, the overall goal of the participant observation is to learn about the entire life of the community.