Participant Observation: Analysis and Best Practices

Analysis in Participant Observation

The final report will depend on a thorough job of collecting and analyzing information, in which only meaningful data are included. But to reach that point, one must pass through successive descriptive and interpretative phases, which are reflected in different types of field notes, culminating in the final report. This process can be summarized as follows:

Types of Field Notes

• Immediate Notes: These include all kinds of notes on what the observer sees, hears, or feels. They are concise, spontaneous, and sometimes include multiple keywords taken behind the observed subject. It is important to stress the verbatim record of the terms used by people observed (technical language, specific jargon, etc.), distinct from the language of professional observation.
• Developed Specific Notes: These are a reconstruction of the experiences of the day, to be held after completion of the observation time. We can distinguish two types:
  • Notes that immediately develop, adding details and a chronological sequence.
  • Notes to record the researcher's personal experience, which will help discover and understand the kind of relationship that exists between the observer and the observed, including moods and concerns.
• Analytical Notes: These are reflexive notes structured in relation to the initial theoretical assumptions, organized thematically. They should also include transcripts of interviews, joining the literal expression of the recording and the interpretation of the relationship of the interview, recorded in the interviewer's field notes.
• Final Report: This is the final text, which translates everything that has been relevant to the subject matter. It is important to include a methodological appendix where the whole process is documented.

Analytical Steps in Participant Observation

The analytical backbone runs through the whole process. The researcher collects data daily and expands and interprets it systematically and continuously. Following the steps followed in building the diary, we can discuss several analytical steps:

1. Purely Descriptive: This includes specific notes from the diary, prior secondary documentary information, recorded interviews, events in audio and video, and so on.
2. Initial Theoretical Reflections: Simultaneous with the first step, this involves developing the first theoretical reflections on the data collected, even from the standpoint of the outsider (etic perspective).
3. Interpretations: Based on analytical notes, this involves making interpretations that reconstruct the views of the subjects observed (emic perspective).
4. Final Report: This contains an all-encompassing interpretation of what was observed. It is just the beginning of other cycles, perhaps from the researchers themselves or perhaps as source material for others.

Potential and Precautions of Participant Observation

Participant observation, like any practice, has its limitations. The following is a brief list of advantages and precautions to consider when doing participant observation.

Potential Advantages

• Suitable for studying realities outside the norm (e.g., marginal groups) and for delving into the daily life of institutions and formal organizations.
• Significantly reduces the externality of the investigator/observer.
• Minimally affects the environment.
• The empathy that the researcher establishes with the observed reduces the threat of reactivity, common in other techniques.
• Provides firsthand information, with the possibility to follow the evolution of certain subjects and situations.
• The investigator evaluates typical or atypical cases, adjusting the scope of theoretical generalizations to the heterogeneity found in the field.
• Analytical categories are not set in advance but are obtained from the data.
• Observation allows for the incorporation of other methods, enhancing the reliability of results.