Why observing matters

Virginia Nightingale

    Research output: Chapter in Book / Conference PaperChapter

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Observation-based research relies on interactions and exchanges between researcher and research participants, and it is this expanded vision of observation – observation that explicitly designs and accounts for the impact of the research process on the fieldwork experience and the data it produces – that the chapter explores. It is based on the premise that communication is a material process in the sense that it is something that can be observed, recorded, documented, analysed and written about. Fieldwork involves finding ways to transform the fleeting character of communication and social relations into durable analysable forms. Other research practices – for example, textual analysis, image analysis, historical research, archival research, market research – may be used to complement the materials produced by the primary engagement with research participants. These research practices use forms of mediation other than observation by a researcher, and usually play a supporting role to the observation-based fieldwork. These secondary research materials are increasingly important today because in effect they replace some of the contextual information previously revealed through the extended time commitment required by a traditional participant observation.
    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationResearch Methods for Cultural Studies
    EditorsMichael Pickering
    Place of PublicationScotland
    PublisherEdinburgh University Press
    Pages105-122
    Number of pages18
    ISBN (Print)9780748625772
    Publication statusPublished - 2008

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