S o l u t i o n S y n c

Keywords:
Assumptions, data points, narrative, observation, practices

Question:

Why is Participant Observation so important in ethnography?

Answer:

One of the things we all are prone to do as human beings is to tray and make sense of data points from very limited perspectives. You give us two data points, and we want to immediately jump to the story that makes those two points make sense. As soon as you connect those two points, you are using a story line or a narrative you are already familiar with. Often, those narratives or story lines are so embedded in our own cultural assumptions and practices that you are not getting at what other people think. You’re just getting at what you think they should be thinking.

Participant observation allows you to spend enough time with people till their own narratives percolate up to the top. Until you get to the point where you know the stories they would use to make sense on those two points. It also means you’ve got to be prepared to be a bit stupid. As the the co-curator of the Tate Modern once said: “To be a bit stupied is an intelligent way to find the real reason.”

Related:
How does Ethnography differ from focus groups or surveys?