Editing Participant observation (section)

==History and development==
Participant observation was used extensively by [[Frank Hamilton Cushing]] in his study of the [[Zuni people]] in the latter half of the nineteenth century. This would be followed in the early twentieth century by studies of non-Western societies through such people as [[Bronisław Malinowski]] (1929),<ref>[[Bronisław Malinowski|Malinowski, Bronisław]]. 1929. ''[[The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia]]''. New York: [[Halcyon House]].</ref> [[E.E. Evans-Pritchard]] (1940),<ref>[[E.E. Evans-Pritchard|Evans-Pritchard, E. E.]] 1940. ''[[The Nuer, a description of the modes livelihood and political institutions of a Nilotic people|The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People]]''. Oxford: [[Clarendon Press]].</ref> and [[Margaret Mead]] (1928).<ref>[[Margaret Mead|Mead, Margaret]]. 1928. ''[[Coming of Age in Samoa|Coming of age in Samoa: A Psychological Study of Primitive Youth for Western Civilisation]]''. New York: [[William Morrow and Company|William Morrow & Co]].</ref>

The practice emerged as the principal approach to [[ethnography|ethnographic]] research by [[anthropology|anthropologists]] and relied on the cultivation of personal relationships with local informants as a way of learning about a culture, involving both observing and participating in the social life of a group. By living with the cultures they studied, researchers were able to formulate first-hand accounts of their lives and gain novel insights. This same method of study has also been applied to groups within Western society and is especially successful in the study of [[sub-culture]]s or groups sharing a strong sense of identity, where only by taking part may the observer truly get access to the lives of those being studied. The postmortem publication of [[Grenville Goodwin]]'s decade of work as a participant-observer with the [[Western Apache]]<ref>[[Edward H. Spicer|Spicer, Edward H.]] 1961. "[[Greenville Goodwin|Grenville Goodwin]]." ''Arizona and the West'' 3(3):201–4.</ref> established him as a prominent figure in the field of [[ethnology]].

Since the 1980s, some anthropologists and other social scientists have questioned the degree to which participant observation can give veridical insight into the minds of other people.<ref name=":1">[[Clifford Geertz|Geertz, Clifford]]. 1984. "From the Native’s Point of View: On the Nature of Anthropological Understanding." Pp. 123–36 in ''Culture Theory: Essays on Mind, Self, and Emotion,'' edited by [[Richard Shweder|R. A. Shweder]] and R. LeVine. New York: [[Cambridge University Press]].</ref><ref>[[Renato Rosaldo|Rosaldo, Renato]]. 1986. "From the Door of His Tent: The Fieldworker and the Inquisitor." ''Writing Culture: The Poetics and Politics of Ethnography,'' edited by J. Clifford and G. E. Marcus. Berkeley, Calif.: [[University of California Press]].</ref> At the same time, a more formalized qualitative research program known as [[grounded theory]], initiated by [[Barney Glaser|Glaser]] and [[Anselm Strauss|Strauss]] (1967),<ref>[[Barney Glaser|Glaser, Barney G.]], and [[Anselm Strauss|Anselm L. Strauss]]. 1967. ''The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research''. Chicago: [[Aldine Press]].</ref> began gaining currency within American sociology and related fields such as public health. In response to these challenges, some ethnographers have refined their methods, either making them more amenable to formal hypothesis-testing and replicability or framing their interpretations within a more carefully considered [[epistemology]].<ref name="DeWalt" />

The development of participant-observation as a research tool has therefore not been a haphazard process, but instead has involved a great deal of self-criticism and review. It has, as a result, become specialized. [[Visual anthropology]] can be viewed as a subset of methods of participant-observation, as the central questions in that field have to do with how to take a camera into the field, while dealing with such issues as the [[Hawthorne effect|observer effect]].<ref>[[John Collier (sociologist)|Collier, John]], and Malcolm Collier. 1986. ''Visual Anthropology: Photography as a Research Method''.</ref>  Issues with entry into the field have evolved into a separate subfield. [[Clifford Geertz]]'s famous essay<ref name=":1" /> on how to approach the multi-faceted arena of human action from an observational point of view, in ''Interpretation of Cultures'' uses the simple example of a human wink, perceived in a cultural context far from home.