Participant Observation Paper

For this assignment,
you are to select a public space (in person or virtual) where you are
part of the local scene. Basically, you do as you typically do as a
member of the public (you observe without drawing attention to
yourself), but in this case you consciously evaluate the interaction(s)
that you observe. The emphasis here will be on observation rather than
participation. Observing does NOT mean stalking the individual(s) you
may see!
During a sustained period of approximately one hour, make your
observations of what you see around campus. Avoid being judgmental in
your descriptions, i.e., be objective. If you write “international
student,” or “married couple,” how do you know this? You are assessing
data and coming to a conclusion—state what those bits of evidence are
from which you are drawing. Be aware of verbal and nonverbal forms of
communication, i.e., kinesics (body language) and proxemics (social
distance). It is all data.
Describe the setting (a schematic drawing or map can be helpful)
Describe the individuals on which you are focusing. Who are the major or minor actors in this?
Describe the activity and/or interaction(s) observed?
Why did you focus on what you did?
After making your observations, think about what you have seen. How
did you interpret what you saw? What did you learn from this
observation? This commentary is to be part of your written assignment;
points will be deducted without this aspect.
This assignment is worth up to 70 points.
In addition to the above requirements, your written assignment must
be at least five pages in length (not counting your bibliography).
You must also incorporate bibliographic sources into your paper!
The purpose of this activity is to give you an introduction
to research necessary to write an academic paper. You will have already
taken notes during your participant observation – now it is time to do
necessary library research to complement those notes.
Your paper must be a combination of original (your own observations)
and academic (book- or journal-based) research. For this particular
assignment, you will need to find three sources to include with
your Participant Observation paper. These sources can be anthropological
journals, books, or online resources. Please use American
Anthropological Association (AAA) format for citing your references. A
copy of the style guide is available at http://www.aaanet.org/publications/style_guide.pdf (Links to an external site.).
It is a good idea to take a look at the whole style guide, although I
have included examples of how to list books, journals, and internet
sources on the back of this sheet; in addition, I have given examples of
how these sources should be cited in your paper. Remember
to give credit where credit is due – you need to put a citation in your
paper EVERY time you use work that is not your own to avoid plagiarism!
Make sure to ask if you have any questions about how to use this particular citation style!
You can use any sources that will complement your own research – and
you can use more than three sources, although only three are required.
Your textbook cannot be included in the three required sources (although you may, of course, use it as a fourth source).
What you need to do:
Using the resources available in the library, compile a list of sources you think may go well with your own observations.
Take a look at each of these resources, and determine whether the
material is actually appropriate – remember, you need at least three
sources!
The best sources of information will be other ethnographies – even
if the author’s observations aren’t the same as yours (and most of the
time, they won’t be), you can use compare their observations and
experiences with yours to make some comparisons. You can even compare
their methods to yours – what worked and what didn’t? Do you see any
major similarities or differences?

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