Examine The Advantages Some Sociologists May Finds When Using Participant Observation

Participant observation is where the research worker joins the group or community they atomic number 18 dis summiting, the police detective will participate in the activities over a period of epoch, to do this, the researcher attempts to become pass judgment in order to collect much(prenominal) valid research and to try and see the world in the way the group does. There are two types of participant observation, C heart-to-heart and Overt.C naked participant observation is where the researcher will take an undercover role in order to do research into the group they regard to issue, there is normally a gate keeper within this group that knows the researcher is there to do research, the gate keeper helps get them into the group to do this research. Overt participant observation is where the researcher takes a more open role they openly ask the group if they will allow the researcher to study them.Interpretivists prefer participant observations as they argue that its the most e ffective way to apprehend the means pot give on certain things, they also prefer it as there is a greater prospect of developing their understanding further by verstehen. An advantage of covert participant observation could be that more valid research will be gained as they study is true to life when compared to overt research. With overt participant observation there washbowl be a risk of less valid information due to the Hawthorne Effect this is where the presence of the researcher can affect the way the participants behave.With both covert and overt participant observations rapports can be made which may lead to more valid selective information and data that is normally enceinte to reach as the group that the researcher is studying will begin to organized religion them. However, this can take time and can be less practical. An example of this is Eileen Barkers study on the Unification Church, she studied the Moonies over 7 years, gaining the trust of the participants, who soon saw her as a friend, thus enabling her to gain more valid and truthful research.By doing this, Barker gained verstehen meaning she could understand the feelings of the people she was studying, empathising with them as a result she developed a further understanding of their way of life. different practical issues with covert participant observation are that it can be hard to find a gate keeper to let the researcher into the group. Both covert and overt research are rattling time consuming and cost a lot, so the study must be worth the time of studying.Both covert and overt observations can be low in reliableness as they are hard to replicate and get consistent results. Researchers may remember and interpret things differently thus reducing the reliability of the research even further. This tends to be more of a disadvantage with covert research as they are unable to write down everything the group being studied says as it will risk their cover and could ruin the research.With an overt role, this can be avoided as they are able to take notes in the open, and can use different types of methods such as interviews or questionnaires. Covert participant observation tends to be more unethical than overt participant observation as the researcher doesnt ask the group for take thus deceiving the group, the researcher may take part in nonlegal acts in order to apply cover, an example of this is Patrick, he studied a gang in Glasgow over four months, during his time in the gang he was required to partake in burglaries to keep the trust of the gang.To prevent this, researchers may neediness to take more of an overt role, which means they have an honest and open role within the group, meaning there is no deception and they wont have to take part in illegal acts. Positivists dont like participant observation as its hard for them to gather numeric data, so they arent able to generalise or see patterns or trends.