Summary
Overview
Key Readings
Observation - as a deliberate, organized and systematic form of ‘looking’ or ‘watching’ - is integral to all scientific inquiry. It is a process that is guided by rational principles and assumptions, and motivated by an interest in obtaining data on occurrences, events, processes, reactions, forms of conduct and relationships.
This collection, drawing together key contributions on observation methods in social research, provides comprehensive coverage of the historical development of observational methods and techniques and offers analytic reflection on the various issues involved in the scientific practice of observation. The volumes demonstrate the rich diversity of observational methods, techniques and associated innovations, as well as providing examples of results obtained by studies now considered to be social science classics. The volumes contain important material concerned with ...
Editors' Introduction: Observation Methods and Social Research
Observation as a deliberate, organised, and systematic way of ‘looking’ or ‘watching’ is integral to all scientific inquiry. It is a practice that is guided by rational principles and assumptions and is motivated by an interest in obtaining data on occurrences, events, processes, reactions, forms of conduct, and relationships. Observation may take many forms and it occupies a particularly significant, if not paramount, place within the range of research methods employed within the social sciences. In line with this central importance, in this set of volumes we draw together key contributions on the observation methods deployed in social research. In so doing we give consideration to the historical development of observational methods and techniques and ...
Table of Contents
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Volume I
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Observation: Philosophy, Science and Art
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1. The Bucket and the Searchlight: Two Theories of Knowledge
Karl Popper
1979
Objective Knowledge: An Evolutionary Approach
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2. Revolutions as Changes of World View
Thomas Kuhn
1996
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
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Jonathan Crary
1988
Jonathan Crary October
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4. Interpretation: Observer Effects
William Thompson
2009
Wiley Encyclopaedia of Forensic Science
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Michel Foucault
2003
The Birth of the Clinic: An Archaeology of Medical Perception
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6. Rules for the Observation of Social Facts
Emile Durkheim
The Rules of Sociological Method and Selected Texts on Sociology and Its Method
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7. Weber's Verstehen and the History of Qualitative Research: The Missing Link
Jennifer Platt
1985
The British Journal of Sociology
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8. The Definitions of Sociology and of Social Action
Max Weber
1964
Max Weber: The Theory of Social and Economic Organization
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9. Social Relationships between Contemporaries and Indirect Social Observation
Alfred Schutz
1967
The Phenomenology of the Social World
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10. Some Basic Problems of Interpretive Sociology
Alfred Schutz
1967
The Phenomenology of the Social World
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11. Unexpected Interactions: Georg Simmel and the Observation of Nature
Matthias Gross
2001
Journal of Classical Sociology
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12. Scopic Regimes of Modernity
Martin Jay
1988
Vision and Visuality
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John Rajchman
1988
John Rajchman October
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Reflections on the Practice of Observation
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14. Excerpt from The Observation of Savage Peoples
Joseph-Marie de Gérando
1969
The Observation of Savage Peoples
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15. Roles in Sociological Field Observations
Raymond Gold
1958
Raymond L. Gold Social Forces
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16. Performing Ethnography and the Ethnography of Performance
Paul Atkinson
2004
British Journal of Sociology of Education
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17. Accounts, Interviews and Observations
Robert Dingwall
1997
Context and Method in Qualitative Research
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Robert Emerson
1981
Robert M. Emerson Annual Review of Sociology
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19. Everett C. Hughes and the Development of Fieldwork in Sociology
Jean-Michel Chapoulie
1987
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
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20. The Chicago School and Firsthand Data
Jennifer Platt
1994
Jennifer Platt History of the Human Sciences
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21. Mass-Observation: Social Research or Social Movement?1
Penny Summerfield
1985
Journal of Contemporary History
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Volume II
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Reflections on the Practice of Observation
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22. A Problem of Sociological Praxis: The Case for Interventive Observation in Field Work
Y. Bodemann
1978
Theory and Society
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23. Benefits of ‘Observer Effects’: Lessons from the Field
Torin Monahan | Jill Fisher
2010
Qualitative Research
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24. Can There Be a Feminist Ethnography?
Judith Stacey
1988
Judith Stacey Women's Studies International Forum
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25. On Tricky Ground: Researching the Native in the Age of Uncertainty
Linda Smith
2008
The Landscape of Qualitative Research
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26. Ethnographic Showcases, 1870–1930
Raymond Corbey
1993
Raymond Corbey Cultural Anthropology
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John Berger
1980
John Berger About Looking
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Ethics, Risk and Observation
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28. Ethical Challenges in Participant Observation: A Reflection on Ethnographic Fieldwork
Jun Li
2008
The Qualitative Report
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Robert Labaree
2002
Robert V. Labaree Qualitative Research
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30. Informed Consent, Anticipatory Regulation and Ethnographic Practice
Elizabeth Murphy | Robert Dingwall
2007
Social Science & Medicine
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31. The Art and Politics of Covert Research: Doing ‘Situated Ethics’ in the Field
David Calvey
2008
Sociology
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32. Covert Participant Observation: On Its Nature and Practice
Richard Hilbert
1980
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
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Peter Lugosi
2006
Peter Lugosi Qualitative Inquiry
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Paul Spicker
2011
Paul Spicker Sociology
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35. Lone Researchers at Sea: Gender, Risk and Responsibility
Helen Sampson | Michelle Thomas
2003
Qualitative Research
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36. When is Disguise Justified? Alternatives to Covert Participant Observation
Martin Bulmer
1982
Qualitative Sociology
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37. A Comment on Disguised Observation in Sociology
Kai Erikson
1967
Kai T. Erikson Social Problems
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38. Methods: The Sociologist as Voyeur
Laud Humphreys
1975
Tearoom Trade
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Michael Lenza
2004
International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy
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40. Working in Hostile Environments
Nigel Fielding
2004
Qualitative Research Practice
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41. ‘Dangerous Fieldwork’ Re-examined: The Question of Researcher Subject Position
Pamela Nilan
2002
Qualitative Research
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42. Doing Participant Observation in a Psychiatric Hospital – Research Ethics Resumed
Christine Oeye | Anne Bjelland | Aina Skorpen
2007
Christine Oeye, Anne Karen Bjelland and Aina Skorpen Social Science & Medicine
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43. The Researcher as Hooligan: Where ‘Participant’ Observation Means Breaking the Law
Geoff Pearson
2009
International Journal of Social Research Methodology
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44. Ethnographic Intimacy: Thinking through the Ethics of Social Research in Sex Worlds
Maria Pérez-y-Pérez | Tony Stanley
2011
Maria Pérez-y-Pérez and Tony Stanley Sociological Research Online
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Volume III
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Participant Observation
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45. The Con Man as Model Organism: The Methodological Roots of Erving Goffman's Dramaturgical Self
Michael Pettit
2011
Michael Pettit History of the Human Sciences
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46. A Note on Participant Observation
Colin Bell
1969
Sociology
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47. A Contribution to the Theory of Participant Observation
Jiri Kolaja
1956
Jiri Kolaja Social Forces
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48. Problems of Inference and Proof in Participant Observation
Howard Becker
1958
American Sociological Review
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49. Part of the Action, or ‘Going Native’? Learning to Cope with the ‘Politics of Integration’
Duncan Fuller
1999
Duncan Fuller Area
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50. The Participant Observer and “Over-Rapport”
S. Miller
1952
S. M. Miller American Sociological Review
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51. Role Boundaries and Paying Back: ‘Switching Hats’ in Participant Observation
Jacqueline Wade
1984
Jacqueline E. Wade Anthropology & Education Quarterly
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52. Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight
Clifford Geertz
1973
Clifford Geertz The Interpretation of Cultures
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53. Participant Observation as a Tool for Understanding the Field of Safety and Security
Frédéric Diaz
2005
Frédéric Diaz Champ Pénal/Penal Field
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54. Participant Observation in Prison
James Jacobs
1974
Urban Life and Culture)
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55. A Spy, a Shill, a Go-between1, or a Sociologist: Unveiling the ‘Observer’ in Participant Observer
Susan Murray
2003
Susan B. Murray Qualitative Research
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Interpretation and Presentation of Observational Data
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56. On Writing Fieldnotes: Collection Strategies and Background Expectancies
Nicholas Wolfinger
2002
Nicholas H. Wolfinger Qualitative Research
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57. Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture
Clifford Geertz
1973
The Interpretation of Cultures
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58. Thinking through Fieldwork
Judith Okely
1994
Analyzing Qualitative Data
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M. Bloor
1978
M. Bloor Sociology
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60. The Presentation of Everyday Life: Some Textual Strategies for “Adequate Ethnography”
Kenneth Stoddart
1986
Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
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61. Representation, Legitimation, and Autoethnography: An Autoethnographic Writing Story
Nicholas Holt
2003
Nicholas L. Holt International Journal of Qualitative Methods
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Observational Screens: Photography, CCTV and Internet
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62. Looking Emotionally: Photography, Racism and Intimacy in Research
Mónica Figueroa
2008
Figueroa History of the Human Sciences
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63. Using CCTV to Study Visitors in the New Art Gallery, Walsall, UK
Ela Beaumont
2005
Ela Beaumont Surveillance & Society
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64. Ethnographic Approaches to the Internet and Computer-Mediated Communication
Angela Garcia | Alecea Standlee | Jennifer Bechkoff | Yan Cui
2009
Angela Cora Garcia, Alecea I. Standlee, Jennifer Bechkoff and Yan Cui Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
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Brian Wilson
2006
Brian Wilson Canadian Journal of Education
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Volume IV
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Observing Workplaces and Workers
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66. Social Access in the Workplace: Are Ethnographers Gossips?
Simon Carmel
2011
Simon Carmel Work, Employment & Society
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Annie MacLean
1903
Annie Marion MacLean American Journal of Sociology
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68. On Doctor Watching: Fieldwork in Medical Settings
Sandra Danziger
1979
Sandra K. Danziger Journal of Contemporary Ethnography
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69. Two Weeks in Department Stores1
Annie MacLean
1899
Annie Marion MacLean American Journal of Sociology
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70. An Observational Study of Shoplifting
Abigail Buckle | David Farrington
1984
The British Journal of Criminology: An International Review of Crime and Society
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71. Glimpses at the Mind of a Waitress
Amy Tanner
1907
Amy E. Tanner American Journal of Sociology
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72. Extracts from ‘Living the Kitchen Life’ and ‘Appendix: Ethnography in the Kitchen’
Gary Fine
2009
Kitchens: The Culture of Restaurant Work
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Studying Up: Observing the Unobserved
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73. Up the Anthropologist – Perspectives Gained from Studying Up
Laura Nader
1972
Reinventing Anthropology
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74. Ethnography in/of the World System: The Emergence of Multi-Sited Ethnography
George Marcus
1995
Annual Review of Anthropology
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Hugh Gusterson
1997
Hugh Gusterson PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropology Review
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76. After Method? Ethnography in the Knowledge Economy
David Mills | Richard Ratcliffe
2012
Qualitative Research
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77. Fast Capitalism: Para-Ethnography and the Rise of the Symbolic Analyst
Douglas Holmes | George Marcus
2006
Frontiers of Capital: Ethnographic Reflections on the New Economy
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78. Introduction: Anthropology Goes to Wall Street
Karen Ho
2009
Karen Ho Liquidated: An Ethnography of Wall Street
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79. Researching Police Deviance: A Personal Encounter with the Limitations and Liabilities of Field-Work
Maurice Punch
1989
Maurice Punch The British Journal of Sociology
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80. Potential Sources of Observer Bias in Police Observational Data
Richard Spano
2005
Richard Spano Social Science Research
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81. Observing the Observers: Researching Surveillance and Counter-Surveillance on ‘Skid Row’
Thomas Kemple | Laura Huey
2005
Thomas Kemple and Laura Huey Surveillance & Society
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Joyce Rothschild | Terance Miethe
1999
Work and Occupations
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