I think it is possible with random selection of participants with informatic procedures with a clean statistician as supervisor.

Dear Mariano,

thanks for your response. I was actually thinking of participant observation in terms of ethnographic research, which is qualitative (i.e. non-statistical). I edited the wording of my question to account for this accordingly.

Pope, C., Conducting etnography in medical settings. Medical education, 2005. 39: p. 1180-1187. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/16313576/

Please let me know if the following references/sites are useful to you:

1.   How to Conduct Ethnographic Research - NSUWorks - Nova ...

nsuworks.nova.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1071&context=tqr

by N Sangasubana - ‎2011 - ‎Cited by 110 - ‎Related articles

Mar 1, 2011 - http://www.nova.edu/ssss/QR/QR16-2/sangasubanat.pdf. How to Conduct ... Observation, and Methodological Issues. I recently had the pleasure of learning how to conduct ethnographic research for the first time. In this “How ...

2.  How to Use Observations in a Research Project.

web.simmons.edu/~tang2/courses/CUAcourses/lsc745/sp05/observation.pdfCached

by N FOX - ‎Cited by 23 - ‎Related articles

Produce guidelines for observation, note-taking, and writing up ethnographic data to .... Furthermore, the research should be carried out in ways that are.

3.  Ethnography, Observational Research, and Narrative

... - Writing@CSU

https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/pdfs/guide63.pdfCached

would not conduct your research in a predominantly Caucasian college or .... Qualitative observational research involves more than simply going out into the ...

4.  Workbook for Ethnographic Observations of Social Settings, Events ...

www.cusag.umd.edu/documents/workingpapers/socsettings_events_act_wrkbk.pdfCached

by TL Whitehead - ‎2006 - ‎Cited by 6 - ‎Related articles

Usually when people think of carrying out ethnographic research, they think of ... unplanned acts and activities that bring ethnographic observation or curiosity.

Dennis

Dennis Mazur

 Dear Ramona and Dennis,

thanks a lot. That's exactly what I was looking for!

Adrian

The following sources should be helpful to your topic: 

• DeWalt, K. M., DeWalt, B. R. and Wayland, C. B. (1998). Participant Observation. In: Russell, B. (ed.) Handbook of Methods in Cultural Anthropology. Walnut Creek, California: Altamira Press, pp. 259-299.
• Kawulich, B. B. (2005). Participant observation as a data collection method. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 6, 2, pp. 1-22.
• Levine, H. G., Gallimore, R., Weisner, T. S. and Turner, J. L. (1980). Teaching Participant‐Observation Research Methods: A Skills‐Building Approach. Anthropology and Education Quarterly, 11, 1, pp. 38-54.
• Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K. M., Guest, G. and Namey, E. (2005). Participant Observation. In: Mack, N., Woodsong, C., MacQueen, K. M., Guest, G. and Namey, E. (eds.) Qualitative Research Methods: A Data Collector’s Field Guide. North Carolina, USA: Family Health International, pp. 13-27, vide: https://www.fhi360.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/Qualitative%20Research%20Methods%20-%20A%20Data%20Collector's%20Field%20Guide.pdf

Furthermore, please also refer to the following sources in relation to ethnography / participant observation in medical settings: 

• Atkinson, P. and Pugsley, L. (2005). Making sense of ethnography and medical education. Medical education, 39, 2, pp. 228-234.
• Goodson, L. and Vassar, M. (2011). An overview of ethnography in healthcare and medical education research. Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions, 8, 4, pp. 1-5.
• Pope, C. (2005). Conducting ethnography in medical settings. Medical education, 39, 12, pp. 1180-1187.
• Watson, A. and Till, K. E. (2010). Ethnography and Participant Observation. In: Delyser, D., Herbert, S., Aitken, S., Crang, M. and McDowell, L. (eds.) The SAGE Handbook of Qualitative Geography. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, pp. 121-137. 

Thanks a lot!

Hi Adrian,

I think that Kenneth has supplied some fine references. I would add two of my favorites:

Agar, M. (1986), Speaking of ethnography.  Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

Spradley, J.P. (1980).  Participant observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.

These are fairly older books but they do a great job describing the "doing" of participant observation.  Both authors have the great advantage of being very experienced ethnographers and both are really excellent writers so their work in clear, concise, and entertaining. they are great books for people learning to do ethnography.

Denscombe, Martyn. The Good Research Guide: For Small-Scale Social Research Projects. 6. ed. Maidenhead: Open University Press, 2017.

A good introduction book on research has just been updated

Other readings shouls include Thornton and Malinowski.

Best

Roland

Thanks once more, Jack, Roland and Sharron,

Sharron: thanks for highlighting that there are different types of observations, which I had not been aware of. I have used some qualitative methods in the past (interviews and focus groups), but I have never done a participant observation.

It would be carried out as "complete participant". I wonder though about ethical issues: No one knows I am a researcher and thus informed consent is not provided. Also, people may reveal much more sensitive details than they typically would if they know that they are in a research situation

Ethically ,participants have the right to informed consent.In order to be consistent and collect reliable data there is need for triangulation.Participant observation should be complemented by other methods of data collection. Reassure your participants that the findings would not be identifed with specific individuals.If they are confident that the data would not be intifying they would not mind your being part of the participants.You should be as natural as possible otherwise if you pretent too much and act in a very artificial manner you will geopadise the study,Naturall if the information to be collected is of a sensitive nature a focus group discusion relaxes participarts and forces them to natural open up

I think... @Sharron A. FitzGerald  answers is well. Thankyou

Hello,

I performed a non-participant observational ethnographic study in the field of Medical Education. I used this book (see reference) and articles (see attach). May be you find them helpful.

Angrosino M. Doing Ethnographic and Observational Research. Los Angeles London New Delhi Singapore; SAGE Publications; 2007.

Kind regards,

Margaretha

Two widely read books on participant observation in ethnography are the following: 

1. James Spradley-Participant Observation.

This text is a follow up to Spradley's earlier ethographic research handbook, The Ethnographic Interview, and guides students through the technique of participant observation to research ethnography and culture.

2. Kathleen Musante et al. - Participant Observation: A guide for fieldworkers.

This book serves as a basic primer for the beginning researcher and as a useful reference and guide for experienced researchers who wish to re-examine their own skills and abilities in light of best practices of participant observation.

Hello:

In my experience as an ethnographic researcher I think that it is important for the preservation of cultures to study from the otherness, that is, to look at the "others" from the "us" since we are all part of humanity. When you see others and you put on "their shoes" you learn the importance of respect for different worldviews and their practitioners

Please read James. P. Spradley's book on participant observation!!

Take the chapter 5 of Cornelius Schubert's book "Die Praxis der Apparatemedizin". See also his articles in "Technografie. Zur Mirkosoziologie der Technik". Broader introduction can be found in Adele Clerke (2005) Situational Analysis; classical background: Anselm Strauss et al.: Social Organization of Medical Work (1985/1997).

Adrian, I am also on this journey as part of my PhD. Can I recommend Karen O'Reilly's book entitled Ethnographic Methods (2nd edition) published by Routledge. It is very easy to read. 

Dear Adrian:

I strongly recommend you the following books:

Mack, N. et al. (2005). Qualitative research methods: A data collector’s field guide. Research Triangle Park, North Carolina: Family Health International.

Ulin, P.; Robinson, E. & Tolley, E. (2006). Qualitative methods in public health: A field guide for applied research. San Francisco: Jossey Bass.

Good luck!!!

Hi there, 

I would add:

1. Atkinson, Paul & Hammersley, Martyn, Ethnography Principles in Practice, 3rd Edition, 2007

2. Emerson (1995), Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes

Hope it helps!!

Dear Adrian:

You can use the following book as classic on Participant observation. The title of the book is Participant Observation. It was published in 1980  but I consider it as one of the best books on the topic.

1. James P. Sparadley. 1980. Participant Observation.Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc.

Another book by the same author will be also useful for your purpose:

2. James P. Sparadley. 1979. The Ethnographic Interview. Holt, Rinehart and Winston Inc.

All the best.

SM Alam

I have also found Paul Atkins and Martyn Hammersley's book that Vinny has recommended useful in my own work, and have  been recommending it to my PG students as well. Because of the very nature of participant observation as a research tool, the researcher's  experiences and the findings proper are usually combined in a manner that makes reading the report inseparable from following the author's field method. Dongen, Els Van 1997 Space and time in the lives of people with long-standing mental illness: an ethnographic account, Anthropology & Medicine 4(1); and Parry, Diana  2008 "We wanted a birth experience, not a medical experience": exploring Canadian women's use of midwifery, Health Care for Women International, 29, are examples in psychiatry and obstetrics that I readily remember.    

Dear Adrian,

A very important and useful tool in participant observation is the field diary. I personally have used it in ethnographic research and also in research in nursing and it provides a great amount of data about the observed and also of the investigator's perceptions in his phenomenological observation. 

Good luck! and regards

I fully endorse what Patricia Islas said above. Field diary is very important in PO which we sometime forget, I have also used field diary. Bert Pelto has emphasized this a lot.

I fully agree with the statement made by Patrica Islas regarding the method of participation observation. In addition to, I understand participant observation as a study of personnel attitude, behavious, perception and works what people do in the spot.

I have based my research with only qualitative methods. This can be a start up!

Eugene Angasa ,I am very curious to know in what kind of research you used qualitative methods as start up. I am encouraging some of my development studies students to use qualitative methods in their research. Your response will be helpful.

If the research is about a social process, or social relationship, and the research the researcher is interested in a holistic mapping or explanation of the subject, then of course qualitative methods are to be recommended. And there is a whole range to choose from; participant observation being only one of these although it is the broadest of such strategies, and does usually have such other options as interviews, focus-group discussions, and documentary search as complementary instruments. My fear, though, is that we appear to be widening the focus of Adrian's original request. My reading of it is that he appears to be interested in publications that introduce participant observation as a research tool, and for use in health research. That was what guided my previous intervention. Usually, report on the instrument is part of the integral report of a research where it has been used. Paul Rabinow who used it to study politics in Morocco later did the rare thing of publishing a free-standing book on his experience (Reflections on fieldwork in Morocco, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977). After studying indigenous mass communication among the Orring of Nigeria, The Qualitative Research Journal (Vol. 3, No. 2 of 2003) also published my experience.    

In addition to the extensive information and references provided earlier, I would suggest reading a well-grounded and extraordinary ethnographic document of Argonauts of the Western Pacific (by Bronislaw Malinowski-1922) , particularly "introduction", which has a great impact of ethnographic studies using participant observation.  

"It would be carried out as "complete participant". I wonder though about ethical issues: No one knows I am a researcher and thus informed consent is not provided. Also, people may reveal much more sensitive details than they typically would if they know that they are in a research situation." As a cultural anthropologist, I find this description of your research plan quite troubling. I also teach research methods and insist that the only participant observation that can be ethically conducted WITHOUT informed consent is in locations where individuals do not have a reasonable expectation of privacy. You concern that they "may reveal much more sensitive details" because they don't know you are conducting research gets to the point of our ethical dilemma as researchers of humans. Being in a health care setting puts people in a state of vulnerability that is recognized by every ethics review board and organization, as does being in any institution, being of minor age - basically, being in or experiencing a situation of diminished capacity. Diminished capacity to consent, diminished capacity to understand the risks of participation. Is your IRB ok with this approach?

It may also help to have a general introduction to this fascinating method in John D. Brewer, Ethnography, Maidenhead, Berkshire: Open University Press, 2000.

Observation, particularly participant observation, has been used in a variety of disciplines as a tool for collecting data about people, processes, and cultures in qualitative research. This paper provides a look at various definitions of participant observation, the history of its use, the purposes for which it is used, the stances of the observer, and when, what, and how to observe. Information on keeping field notes and writing them up is also discussed, along with some exercises for teaching observation techniques to researchers-in-training.

Dear Senad, your answer sounds linke an introduction to a "paper" you either published or is working on it. is is possible, please to send me a copy of that paper?

Thank you

Participant observation provides more detailed and in-depth understanding of social action. However, maintaining objectivity is very important.

Following references can be more useful in understanding use of participant observation in health research.

• Pearsall, M. Participant Observation as Role and Method in Behavioural Research. Nurs. Res. 14: 39, Winter 1965.
• Cunningham, R. An Analysis of Home Visits by Public Health Nurses to Patients with Cardiac Disorders. Scarborough, Scar- borough Health Department, 1972, p. 25.

You should be able to seperate your values and feelings from the objective of the study.If you fail to do that your values and feelings may influence your findings.

The ethnographer is part of the entire ethnographic inquire. While recording and documenting the ethnographic events (participant observation, interviews and so like), subjective feedback of the ethnographer is very important (without imposing his/her values).

I would suggest:

Emerson, Fretz & Shaw.(1995) Writing Ethnographic Field notes (University of Chicago Presa)

Consider a scale [P------O] with Pure Participant at one end and Pure Observer at the other. Then locate yourself along the continuum as an "observing participant" or a "participating observer." Keep this in perspective at all times when in the subject community and as you document your study.