Participant Observation: A Model for Organizational Investigation?

Abstract

Participant observation, in which research is carried out through the direct participation of the researcher in the situation of interest, is a method of considerable interest to managerial psychologists, and others such as staff officers and other employees who carry out a similar role. Unfortunately it, and qualitative methodology as a whole, of which participant observation is a sub‐species, are approaches which are widely denigrated in the literature. This is unjust, since the method is not without its rigours, and the alternative, complementary and more highly regarded quantitative approach is not without its flaws, some of them fatal. Gives examples where participant observation is likely to be the only viable method of eliciting information, and there may be a significant public interest in such cases. There are ethical objections to covert participant observation, but even this has its valid applications. Participant observation should achieve its rightful place as a major research method with diverse application and usefulness.

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