Participant observations

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Participant observations

Advantages

  • Very high ecological validity.
  • Rich qualitative data can be obtained.
  • Easier to understand the behaviours of the observee and what they actually mean.

Disadvantages

  • Ethical problems with deception with undisclosed participant observations.
  • Cause and effect cannot be inferred.
  • Researcher has to rely on memory - unreliable.
  • Observer may become too emotionally involved - too subjective.
  • Presence of observer could change group dynamics.

Evaluation

Participant observations allow rich qualitative data to be obtained and can often make behaviours easy to understand as they are observed closely. However, the researcher in this type of observation can become too emotionally attached, reducing the objectivity of the results, and the presence of the observer could also change group dynamics, meaning behaviour is not reflective of true life.

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