Assignment:
1) Read the following article: Pearson, G. (2009). The researcher as hooligan: where ‘participant’observation means breaking the law. International Journal of Social Research Methodology, 12(3), 243-255.
2) Write a one paragraph critique of the article, addressing the following questions: Would you engage in illegal behavior in the name of science? Can you think of any situation where the knowledge learned would justify the behavior?
3) Choose a social scene that is familiar to you but that is not familiar to most others, such as an unusual hobby, job, or sport; an ethnic celebration that is not widely known among outsiders; or a localized event or tradition.
- a) What aspects of this scene would be hard for outsiders to understand?
- b) What behaviors distinguish insiders from outsiders?
- c) What would a participant observer have to know or learn in order for you to consider them to be a participant?
- d) Does this group engage in any illegal behavior?
- e) Would you have to engage in illegal behavior in order to “fit in”?
