The Strengths and Weaknesses of Participant Observation Method

The social world is not an objective phenomenon. It consists of subjective meanings and experiences constructed by people in a variety of social situations. There are different ways to encapsulated the subjective meaning of social life and one of them is the technique of participant observation. Participant observation is an ethno-graphic tradition. In this method, the researcher is involved in face to face relationship with the subjects of research. The researcher himself is also a part of the context that is being observed. It gives first hand information which is presumed to be highly valid and reliable because the researcher becomes part of the social situation The defendant of this method argues that the information gathered under this method is less biased than any other method due to more involvement and familiarity of the researcher to the subjects of the study. However, participant observation is not without problems. Critics often argue about the way information are gathered, the validity and reliability of the information and the subjectivity of the researcher in analysing the data.