Participant observation. I conducted approximately 94 hours and 45 minutes of participant observation at Hoshūkō: in the library, in classrooms, in the hall, in the playground, and on the field. Participant observation meant that I was the main research instrument (Xxxxx, 2004). This is because I had to gain access into Hoshūkō prior to my research, I had to establish relations with the adults and young people, help in the library, observe the classes, conduct the interviews, write field notes and write up the research. I chose to use participant observations for the following reasons. First of all, I felt that it helped me to investigate the taken-for-granted practices of life in Hoshūkō and to experience these practices from a different perspective from that of a pupil or of a teacher (Xxxxxxxxx, 2009). In other words, participant observation allowed me to gain detailed insights into the mundane, every day practices occurring inside Hoshūkō rather than focusing on spectacular events (Xxxxxxxxx, 2009; Xxxxxx, 2006). Participant observation also allowed me to observe details which the young people may not have considered relevant enough to mention in conversational interviews (Xxxxxxxxx, 2009). Moreover, it allowed me to observe what the young people actually did at Hoshūkō rather than relying solely on what they said they did (Xxxxxxxxx, 2009; Xxxxx et al., 2000). However, I was aware that I was just one of the social actors in the scenes I was researching.
Participant observation. This will involve spending time with gang members, observing their activities, and gathering information based on informal conversations. The researcher(s) will gather interactional data, i.e., data concerning the exchange of values, behavior, verbal exchanges and exchanges of other material means between members in the group and between groups, as well as group and group member interactions with key neighborhood/community institutions (police, family, schools, service providers, etc.). Keep detailed fieldnotes from each observational session, including a detailed description of the scene, events, and conversations.
Participant observation. Participant observation was used as part of the methodology of data collection (Xxxxxxxxx et al. 2018), alongside the review of documents, surveys, and interviews. As an unobtrusive method in qualitative studies, participant observation permits the researcher to observe activities in a specific research setting while the researcher attempts to determine what is going on (Xxxxxxx 2006; Xxxxxxxxx 1989). For the present research, participant observation consisted of interactions with rural communities in the scope of the Nexus 1492 excavations and related activities in the northwest of the country between July of 2013 to October 2019. The observation provided an opportunity to better understand and capture the details of interactions between local community members, project researchers, and community heritage administrators in a natural setting. This form of observation was considered more appropriate within the local communities near the excavation projects. Long-term interactions in the local community allowed for participation in activities to not be perceived as a forced integration. Observations carried out within the project’s geographical context were not disruptive as it was more feasible than to survey people or ask for their opinions in structured ways. This afforded a chance to learn about the interest of local community members near the archaeological sites within the Nexus 1492 project and their willingness to be more actively involved with local Indigenous heritage and its preservation. Observation and informal conversation during activities with the local community yielded field notes for thematic analysis and interpretation. Participant observation was possible throughout the study by taking advantage of the Nexus 1492 project activities that were organized with the local community in different geographical sections and neighborhoods within the municipalities of Laguna Salada and Xxxxx de Guayacanes, located in Xxxxxxxx Province. As a local researcher, participant observation was a more viable long-term data collection strategy that permitted witnessing the interaction of local community groups related to the research topic. In this role, the researcher was an outsider who participated in some aspects of the lives of local community members in the areas where the research took place. Notes recording and photographing was done as much as possible. In many cases, participation also helped to become involved in the organization and coordination o...
Participant observation. 2. How do practitioners of these traditions define and understand literacy within the context of these traditions? a) Participants b) Xxxx Xxxxx Xxxxxxx’x record of Xxxxx Xxxxxx’x prescriptions for her clients c) Xxxxx Xxxx Avant Collection d) Rituals/Ceremonies/ Events a) Semi-structured interviews b) Content analysis; close reading; historical method c) Content analysis; close reading; historical method d) Participant Observation
Participant observation. In addition to the study methods mentioned above, the first author also was involved in monitoring and evaluation of integrated family planning through her work as the Monitoring and Evaluation/Research Specialist at the AgirPF project. Part of this work included speaking with health care workers and health facility directors about data collection related to the AgirPF- supported services. This experience provided a greater understanding of the current reporting systems as well as its strengths and weaknesses.
Participant observation. Participant observation was conducted at several events, in various locations, organised by UK Feminista and the networks and organisations (national and local) with which they are linked to gain an in-depth understanding of their vision, ideology and practice and of the relation between organisations and activists. Advance information about events was accessed through local and national media and through the feminist contacts built up. In total, the researchers observed and participated in 26 events/meetings (see Appendix 3). At each event detailed field notes were taken to supplement the interview data and provide information on the event’s atmosphere and dynamics. These were recorded in fieldwork diaries. A number of UK Feminista training and support events were attended including two of their annual summer schools in 2012 and 2013, a lobby of parliament, a meeting at the House of Commons in support of the Lose the Lads’ Mags campaign (Plate 13) and a local workshop on why feminism mattered and how to start a campaign. The annual summer school which runs over two full days comprises training workshops (Plate 2), stalls (Plate 3) intellectual discussion, debates, panel meetings with successful activists and entertainment. The summer schools attract hundreds of accomplished and novice activists from all over Britain and rapidly sold-out in 2013. The lobby of parliament lasted a day and was composed of a morning session on how to lobby MPs, a short rally and march to the Houses of Parliament (Plate 4) and culminated in a lobby of MPs by activists. In addition to UK Feminista events, the researchers attended workshops, street protests (Plate 5), marches and socials organised by collaborating organisations such as War on Want women, Million Women Rise (Plate 6, Plate 7), Rise for Justice (Plate 8) and Women’s Networking Hub Birmingham. Three school feminist society meetings were attended and eight fortnightly meetings of a local grassroots feminist group selected because of the group’s longstanding links with UK Feminista. Finally the researchers attended a number of one-off events including a day conference at the British Library on intergenerational histories of second wave feminism and a debate at the University of Warwick on ‘No More Page 3’.
Participant observation. As has been detailed in the previous sections of the methodology chapter, ethnographers have the goal to find out ‘what is happening here in the field site(s) I have chosen?’ (Heath and Street, 2008:31). In order to understand how the Xxxxxxx Youth experienced their ethnic identifications in the multi-ethnic space of London through an ethnographic look, I decided to adopt a participant observer role by ‘being- in-the-world’ of these adolescents (Xxxxxxxx and Xxxxxxxxxx, 1994:249). The engaging first hand involvement of the ethnographer in the field positions him/her as a participant observer, extending beyond watching ‘behind the glass’ to locating the researcher, straightforwardly, in the research setting as a participant (Xxxxxxxxx, 2010:13). For, the ethnographer seeks ‘a deeper immersion in others’ worlds in order
Participant observation. Participant observation techniques are commonly used in ethnographic research and involve the researcher being part of their participants’ activities to a greater or lesser extent (Xxxxxx, 1984). Participant observations can range from the researcher as an unobtrusive ‘outsider’ to the researcher as an accepted ‘insider’ (Xxxxxxxx, 1998; Tonkin, 1984). Participant observation was used in two ways in this research project; as an on-going process throughout the data collection and as a form of accompanied visit, discussed in more detail in section 3.6.4. Throughout the participant recruitment and data collection period of this study participant observation was carried out with all four groups, resulting in approximately 65,000 words of field notes. It formed the cornerstone of getting to know participants, enabling them to get to know me, obtaining access and learning about the community groups and their members in a naturalistic setting (X. Xxxxx, Xxxxxx, & Xxxxxxxx, 2011). As such, the participant observation element of this project was the basis from which the other data collection methods were carried out. Participant observation took place at events to which I was invited, typically at weekends or during evenings, once or twice a month, and field notes were written up on the day of participation, resulting in field notes spanning the year of data collection, 2010. As Xxxxxxxxxx and Xxxxxxxx (1997, p. 185) have argued, “field notes cannot possibly provide a comprehensive record of the research setting”. What the field notes from this project do provide, however, is an account of community group activities, group members and their on-going discussions. As a result, the field notes informed the analytic themes developed from the other research methods and provided valuable context.
