One of the qualitative methods social scientists use to develop insights about the social world involves field research. As discussed in class (recall the figure below), direct observation (or field research) involves a researcher being present to watch social activities as they happen in real time. Sometimes a researcher is actively involved in whatever processes are being studied (Participant) and other times the researcher is not an active participant (Nonparticipant). In addition, sometimes the researcher directly tells others that they are being studied (Overt), but other times the researcher goes “undercover” and does not tell those who are being observed (Covert). Four different types of field research can be identified when these two dimensions are taken into account simultaneously. For this project students are expected to do the following.
1.Identify a social activity you can easily observe (e.g., dance club scene, families of parents and kids at a playground, sorority/fraternity party, restaurant,youth sporting event with parents/family/friends present, gym, grocery store, religious service or social event, family reunion, a condominium association meeting, etc. (many other options exist—but check with Ms. Nilsson or me about the suitability of a different setting)
2.Spend at least an hour observing the activities. You do NOT have to speak to those you’re observing but you can. You do not have to participate in the activity, but you can.
3.Prepare field notes that explore the following topics and use these labels but do not skip spaces as you might with a subheading; just place the label to the far left, bold and underline like you see below, and then type your information to the right of it. Do this for all of the labels (a-e).