⊿ Point. {R} Glossary. ◢ Keyword: P. ◥ University. {q} PhD. {tr} Training. ⚫ UK. ↂ EndNote. ☢️ NPO. ☢️ OPO. ☝️ Weerakkody. ☝️ [BS] Heigham. Participant observation. Method in anthropology Participant observation is one type of data collection method by practitioner-scholars typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. This type of methodology is employed in many disciplines, particularly anthropology (incl. cultural anthropology and European ethnology), sociology (incl. sociology of culture and cultural criminology), communication studies, human geography, and social psychology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, youth group, or a particular community) and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time.
History and development[edit] Participant observation was used extensively by Frank Hamilton Cushing in his study of the Zuni people in the latter half of the nineteenth century. Method and practice[edit] Howell's phases of participant observation[edit] See also[edit]