Editing Participant observation (section)

====Impact of researcher involvement====
The presence of the researcher in the field may influence the participants' behavior, causing the participants to behave differently than they would without the presence of the observer (see:[[observer-expectancy effect]]).<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2">Douglas, Jack D., and John M. Johnson, (eds.). 1977. ''Existential Sociology''. New York: [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|9780521215152}}. Retrieved via [https://books.google.com/books?id=pRY2nQEACAAJ Google Books].</ref> Researchers engaging in this type of qualitative research method must be aware that participants may act differently or put up a facade that is in accordance to what they believe the researcher is studying.<ref name=":2" /> This is why it is important to employ rigor in any qualitative research study. A useful method of rigor to employ is [[Member check|member-checking]] or [[Triangulation (social science)|triangulation]].<ref name="Douglas">{{cite book|last=Douglas|first=Jack D.|url=https://archive.org/details/investigativesoc29doug|title=Investigative Social Research|publisher=[[SAGE publications]]|year=1976|location=Beverly Hills, Calif.|url-access=registration}}</ref><ref name=":3">Lincoln, Yvonne S., and Egon G. Guba. 1985. ''Naturalistic Inquiry.'' Beverly Hills, Calif.: [[SAGE Publications]]. {{OCLC|1036737672}}. {{Internet Archive|id=naturalisticinqu00linc|name=Naturalistic inquiry}}.</ref>

According to [[Richard Fenno]], one problem in participant observation is the risk of "going native", by which he means that the researcher becomes so immersed in the world of the participant that the researcher loses scholarly objectivity.<ref name=":0" /> Fenno also warns that the researcher may lose the ability and willingness to criticize the participant in order to maintain ties with the participant.<ref name=":0" /> 
 
While gathering data through participant observation, investigator triangulation would be a way to ensure that one researcher is not letting his or her biases or personal preferences in the way of observing and recording meaningful experiences.<ref name=":3" /> As the name suggests, investigator triangulation involves multiple research team members gathering data about the same event, but this method ensures a variety of recorded observations due to the varying theoretical perspectives of each research team member.<ref name=":3" /> In other words, [[Triangulation (social science)|triangulation]], be it data, investigator, theory or methodological triangulation, is a form of cross-checking information.<ref name="Douglas" /><ref name=":3" />

[[Member check]]ing is when the researcher asks for participant feedback on his or her recorded observations to ensure that the researcher is accurately depicting the participants' experiences and the accuracy of conclusions drawn from the data.<ref name=":3" /> This method can be used in participant observation studies or when conducting interviews.<ref name=":3" /> [[Member check|Member-checking]] and [[Triangulation (social science)|triangulation]] are good methods to use when conducting participant observations, or any other form of qualitative research, because they increase data and research conclusion credibility and transferability. In quantitative research, credibility is liken to internal validity,<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4">Banister, Peter, Geoff Bunn, and [[Erica Burman]]. 2011. ''Qualitative Methods In Psychology: A Research Guide''. Philadelphia: [[Open University Press]]. Pp. 1–16.</ref> or the knowledge that our findings are representative of reality, and transferability is similar to external validity or the extent to which the findings can be generalized across different populations, methods, and settings.<ref name=":3" /><ref name=":4" />

A variant of participant observation is '''observing participation''', described by [[Marek M. Kaminski]], who explored prison subculture as a political prisoner in communist Poland in 1985.<ref>Kaminski, Marek M. 2004. ''Games Prisoners Play''. Princeton, NJ: [[Princeton University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-691-11721-7}}.</ref> "Observing" or "observant" participation has also been used to describe fieldwork in sexual minority subcultures by anthropologists and sociologists who are themselves lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender,<ref>Bolton, Ralph. 1995. "Tricks, Friends and Lovers: Erotic Encounters in the Field." Pp. 140–67 in ''Taboo'', edited by D. Kulick and M. Wilson. London: [[Routledge]].</ref> as well as amongst political activists and in protest events.<ref>Sullivan, S. (2004). 2004. "[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/csgr/research/abstracts/13304/ We are heartbroken and furious! (#2) Violence and the (anti-)globalisation movement(s)]." ''Centre for the Study of Globalisation and Regionalisation'' [CSGR working paper no. 133/04]. [[University of Warwick]].</ref> The different phrasing is meant to highlight the way in which their partial or full membership in the community/subculture that they are researching both allows a different sort of access to the community and also shapes their perceptions in ways different from a full outsider. This is similar to considerations by anthropologists such as Lila Abu-Lughod on "halfie anthropology", or fieldwork by [[bicultural]] anthropologists on a culture to which they partially belong.<ref>[[Lila Abu-Lughod|Abu‐Lughod, Lila]]. 1988. "Fieldwork of a Dutiful Daughter." ''Arab Women in the Field: Studying Your Own Society, edited by'' S. Altorki and C. Fawzi El-Solh. Syracuse, NY: [[Syracuse University Press]].</ref>