GGR271H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Participant Observation, Ethnography
16 Apr 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Western-centered, judgmental, superior: observing indigenous tribes used to be easier because we believed in imperialism and colonialism. However, tribes would die of really quickly due to lack of immunizaion for certain diseases culture dies of. May lead to violent or uncomfortable reacions true behaviour may be covered up: covert: iniltrate group without informing of research involvement easier to access closed seings less likely to have negaive reacions. Hard to take notes anxiety about being exposed gangs, drug dealing ethical concerns regarding decepion, privacy, and consent: concealment/covert research is oten necessary and unavoidable. Have been highly criicized for being unethical and unprofessional. Other argue ethical criicisms should not stop researchers from using such ethics approaches: researcher and paricipant safety, informed consent and voluntary paricipaion no coercion, power imbalances between researcher and paricipants (ex: tribes, paricipaion in illegal acivity. Should researcher report illegal acivity: risk of encouraging certain behaviours to show of for researcher.
