Participant Observation of City Cultures Essay Example

Participant Observation of City Cultures Essay Ethnography has become a very popular approach to social research, alongside other kinds of qualitative work. It is the study of a way of life and was introduced by anthropologists who studied marginal or isolated cultures, such as the study of Trobriand Islands by Bronislaw Malinowski. Anthropologists believed it to be fundamental to get as close as possible to the societies they were investigating; hence, ethnography bears a close resemblance to the routine ways in which people make sense of the world in everyday life. Some researchers regard this as it basic strength; others see it as a fundamental weakness. Participant observation is a means of gathering information; it allows the researcher to experience the culture under examination. It is a research technique that has been adapted to meet the requirements of sociologists and is used frequently to gain detailed qualitative results. In its most characteristic, form it involves the ethnographer participating, overtly or covertly, in peoples daily lives for an extended period of time and collecting any data that concerns topic of the investigation. In overt observation, researchers declare their true identity and purpose whereas a covert participant observer is hidden or disguised. Some researchers argue that overt observation is the best way since it avoids participation in immoral or illegal behaviour. Furthermore, the investigator can freely ask questions without arousing suspicion. However, being open in a study may affect the behaviour of the participants as they may become more self-conscious. Thus, covert observation is less likel y to disrupt the situation being observed since the researcher appears to be another member of the group, for example, a certain researcher, William Chambliss, had to maintain secrecy when conducting a study of an organised crime; if his true identity was revealed the crime may have been prevented. However, this does question the ethnicity of the study since informed consent is not given. In either case, observation can work well in situations where there is no pre-selected sample population and where the behaviour in question is hidden or deviant. 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Moreover, it is a safe environment in which I can remain concealed since I wish to carry out a covert observation. I will study the main foyer of the train station as a site for cultural inquiry. For example, to what extent are youth subcultures a form of resistance to the socio-economic circumstances of young working-class people? Since it is a public space for cultural identities to meet, combine or even come into conflict, I wish to see whether this participant observation reveals cultures of marginal or deviant groups. Result of observation Train stations are an everyday aspect in many peoples lives and since I carried out my study on a Friday evening at approximately seven oclock, it was a very busy time. The train station is a form of public service and is open and available to anyone who is wishing to travel; it is not religiously or educationally bound in any way. Piccadilly train station is a large station; it contains various high street stores, supermarkets, food places and bars. However, I was observing the actual train area, so in terms of interaction, participants communicated with those they knew. Apart from that, participants interacted with staff members when purchasing tickets or making enquiries. Predominantly, I identified two main categories in which my participants fell into; there were a large number of students and also many working adults. Any children present seemed to be accompanied by adults. Many students were on the own but there were also small groups of them. Whilst waiting in queues or for the trains, I noticed that a lot of students used their phones; if they were not engaged in calls, they were probably just browsing or text messaging. It seemed as they were quick to get bored whereas most of the adults were content with the waiting. I also noticed that more females, particularly the working adults were carrying books and magazines, presumably for their journeys; however, I did not see any males holding any reading material. There were cultural roles visible in the train station. I noticed a series of actions that most of the participants seemed to be following. I found that as soon as participants entered the station, most of them went to the large screens to view the allocated train times. This area was also a meeting point for a lot of the groups of students. Next, participants would purchase their tickets; most of them went and joined long queues, few would go over to the purchasing machines but this was quite rare. There were two queues, one for those who were travelling on that day, and one for future travels. Both were very long, the former queue being significantly longer than the latter. Finally, participants either caught their trains or waited for their arrivals. Some participants spent their time waiting by going into the supermarkets or getting food, one group of students went to the bar, but the majority of participants waited in the waiting area. The general norms of behaviour in the station were everyday aspects such as queuing and the general politeness strategies in conversation between participants and staff members. Since it was busy in the station at that time, many people were rushing which caused participants to push by each other, thus frequent apologies were made although there was an incident when a male participant accidentally pushed by an old female participant, nearly knocking her over and did not stop to apologise. This was noticed by other participants as well and comments were being made on how that was rude. This was the first form of deviance I noticed in this study. Another occasion where the norm of behaviour was violated was when two young female participants cleverly pushed into the queue. This was noticed by the female participant they pushed in front of, but she remained quiet even though it seemed to bother her. A final incident occurred when a large group of participants both male and female, presu mably students, became rather loud in the main foyer of the station; they attracted a lot of attention from other participants. They began to disrupt the public crowd as they were becoming boisterous, eventually security guards told them to quieten down or leave; they left shortly after. Conclusion When playing my role as an observer, I was quite confident in what I was doing. I was not bothering anyone and I did not interact with anyone at any time during the study. Since the environment I was in was extremely busy and most of the participants were rushing around the area, I was not noticed by anyone; I was able to blend in with the environment I was in. When considering my results, certain questions as to whether this account of behaviour is considered valid, or whether another researcher would observe the activity in the same way. This leads to many methodological problems with this observation. This process of investigation is one that is dependent on the role and position observer adopts while observing. Those who employ a participant strategy could overplay their role and affect the groups behaviour. There is also the risk of going native where they become more a full member of the group and less an observer. Thus, valid interpretation is a crucial requirement to enable good observational sociology. A certain researcher, Stanley (1990) has stated: the project which drives the writing of ethnography is different from that which drives the doing of social life. Ethnographic description is actually not, and cannot be, literal description.1 Thus, observational studies may not be entirely free of biasing effects and the validity of this study can be questioned. Gilbert and Mulkay (1984) argue that: no one interpretation of social action can be better than another whatever method is used to record or observe it because all social actions have numerous meanings, each created by and dependent on the interactive context in which it is constructed.2 Hence, this takes into account that my study and its results were unique in their own right. Conversely, some researchers, especially those who support the use of positivist methods may view participant observation as unscientific since the findings cannot be checked because the study cannot be replicated; some may view it as a subjective research method rather than an objective one. Additionally, ethical issues arise since no informed consent was given, as this study was a covert observation. In regards to deviant behaviour and marginalisation, there was one focal group that broke the rules of the norms of behaviour. This may have been because the participants were in a group and so felt they had the power to be different; solidarity between the participants in the group added to their confidence and may have given them the ability to embrace a deviant culture. In reference to the incident when the two female participants queue-jumped, the reason the other female participant remained quiet may have been due to the social pressure the two females were giving; she may have felt intimidated by them. In order to find out whether youth sub-cultures forms are resistance to the norms of behaviour in particular social contexts, I would need to study urban spaces that may entail more interaction between the participants themselves. In the train station, much of the activity was patterned which illustrates that a norm of behaviour has already been established in this environment. Culturally, there were unsaid rules that the participants followed; nevertheless there will always be some forms of deviance within society.