Participant Observation (SAGE Benchmarks in Social Research Methods series)

This four-volume collection presents the key publications which exemplify the participant observation tradition in sociology and social research, an increasingly important method used in qualitative research and ethnography. Such research usually involves a range of methods: informal interviews, direct observation, participation in the life of the group, collective discussions, analyses of the personal documents produced within the group, self-analysis and life-histories. Volume One covers the origins of participant observation in the ideas of the Chicago School sociologists and the process by which social researchers tried to develop and appropriate method of empirical research alongside the attempt to formulate a satisfactory notion of sociology. Volume Two presents the theoretical and methodological refinement and Volume Three draws on the wide variety of contexts and domains in which participant observation has been used. Finally Volume Four presents contemporary examples of participant observation studies and related approaches from a variety of domains, including system design. With the increasing push toward ethnography in a wide variety of disciplines - from nursing to education - this timely collection will be invaluable to scholars engaged in qualitative research. Synopsis This four-volume collection presents the key publications which exemplify the participant observation tradition in sociology and social research, an increasingly important method used in qualitative research and ethnography. Such research usually involves a range of methods: informal interviews, direct observation, participation in the life of the group, collective discussions, analyses of the personal documents produced within the group, self-analysis and life-histories. Volume One covers the origins of participant observation in the ideas of the Chicago School sociologists and the process by which social researchers tried to develop and appropriate method of empirical research alongside the attempt to formulate a satisfactory notion of sociology. Volume Two presents the theoretical and methodological refinement and Volume Three draws on the wide variety of contexts and domains in which participant observation has been used. Finally Volume Four presents contemporary examples of participant observation studies and related approaches from a variety of domains, including system design.With the increasing push toward ethnography in a wide variety of disciplines - from nursing to education - this timely collection will be invaluable to scholars engaged in qualitative research. About the Author Wes Sharrock has spent his entire career since 1965 in sociology until his retirement in 2017 at the University of Manchester. His main interests have been in the philosophy of social science and in ethnomethodology, and he has published widely on issues of sociological principle and empirical research in these areas. Wes has explored two central themes--the relevance of fieldwork and an understanding of ordinary language for an understanding of social practice and the respecification of social theory--pursuing them across a huge variety of settings, from ordinary scenes of everyday social life through to complex domains of practical action and reasoning in various academic and industrial work situations. An ethnomethodologist of international reputation, alongside his other contributions, Wes coedited with Mike Lynch the four-volume 2003 Sage collection Harold Garfinkel.