“People Watching” Participant Observation Activity Questions and Assignment Description You may observe people in any public place where there are a lot of people. Please observe for at least 30 minutes. Some examples include: malls‚ plazas‚ parking lots‚ campuses‚ gas stations‚ office buildings‚ restaurants‚ or anywhere else that’s public. During the observation session‚ write down your notes (see questions below)‚ and then after the session write up a one page reaction paper to your experience
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Examine the problems some sociologist find with using postal questionnaires in their research. There are many problems that some sociologist find when using postal questionnaires. Postal questionnaires are sent to homes and business in certain areas‚ postal questionnaire mainly use closed questions as positives use this method due to the fact‚ that they are able to interpret the data in to numerical form such as graphs. Positives use quantitative data because they believed that society is molded
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Examine the ways in which practical‚ ethical and theoretical factors may influence sociologist’s choice of research methods. Practical‚ ethical and theoretical issues are extremely important when deciding a research method because; certain issues may lead to unuseful information because a certain practical‚ ethical or theoretical issue can affect the results It can be argued that ethical issues need to be considered because they may cause psychological harm‚ for example in Milgrams study‚ his participants
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Statement of thesis Throughout “Participant Observation” the author explains the importance of participant observation and the trials faced by many ethnographers. Dewalt & Dewalt expound upon this by stating what basic elements and attitudes are needed to do participant research effectively. This reading shows how observers face ethical dilemmas‚ gender disadvantages‚ family and safety issues‚ and‚ most importantly‚ limits to participation. How far are they willing to go to gather information
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Examine the disadvantages some sociologists may find when using official statistics in their research Official statistics are a secondary method of gaining data which are highly supported by Positivists but not so much by Interpretivists for a variety of reasons. The usages of official statistics come with many disadvantages as well as advantages. One reason Positivists support the use of official statistics is that they allow quantitative data to be gathered. However‚ Interpretivists‚ such
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This paper is an attempt to explore the possible research stances available to me involved in participant observation of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) of the Lehigh County. For this field study I chose to be a complete observer. I have to stay in many assignments I’ve done I never thought I had to study a group of people with a drinking problem‚ it was quite sad to listen to a young girls story. I felt like some sort of snitch‚ spying on a serious group of people‚ so please take this study seriously
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Introduction All methods involve observation‚ but participant observation is characterized by the extent to which its advocates insist on observation and interpretation of a situation‚ informed by an understanding of the situation from the point of view of the participants rather than the observer. An attempt is made to avoid imposing categories from outside. Participant observation is the method of anthropology‚ although it is used in a wide range of sociological studies when the researcher has ’become
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Examine some of the reasons why females may be less likely than males to commit crimes. Women in general seem to have a lower rate of offending than men. Some sociologists take the view that it is social factors rather than biological factors that cause the gender differences in offending. Sociologists have put forward three main explanations of gender differences in crime‚ which are the sex role theory‚ the control theory and the liberation thesis. The sex role theory and the control theory
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sSeven excerpts from Erving Goffman’s 1974 remarks on fieldwork can serve as his virtual preface to this narrative about his legacy. I begin with Goffman’s definition of participant observation: “By participant observation‚” he said‚ “I mean a technique . . . of getting data . . . by subjecting yourself‚ your own body and your own personality and your own social situation‚ to the set of contingencies that play upon a set of individuals so that you can physically and ecologically penetrate their circle
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and useful to my study. The participants made me feel accepted and comfortable while observing their interactions with one another. I chose the Main Dining Room at Ohio State University around noon lunch time in order to ensure that a sample of my target group was represented. The first task I made sure I completed when I sat down was to inform the people what was going on. I told them for the next half hour or so I would be conducting a participant observation experiment and all they needed
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