Advantages and disadvantages of covert and overt participation

Covert participant observation means that the researcher may gain access into social groups who would otherwise not consent to being studied. R. Burgess Study of city Technology College allowed him to have empathy i.e. to discover the nature of social reality by understanding the school children’s behaviour thus adding more validity to his work. This type of research is termed to be much naturalistic since it aims to discover the nature of the interviewee or sample being researched. The observer also less influences this research as long as they see the researcher as part of them. It is a much flexible approach since the researcher does not pre-judge the issue by deciding in advance what is or is not important when studying social behaviour.  It however, has its own problems. The researcher may be forced into being involved with the group being studied. For example in item A, the researcher had to be drawn into the interaction with these seven year olds without the consent of their parents which might be an important ethical issue here. It could also mean that the researcher may be involved in criminal or dangerous activities. An example is that of James Patrick when researching Glasgow gangs.

Overt participation involves the researcher being open about the reason for his or her study. Since the group is being observed in its natural setting, it adds more validity to the research without personal opinions influencing the research. An example of a famous overt observation is William F.Whyte study on Street Corner Society, (1943) where he was protected from potential antagonism by his friendship with 'Doc', his sponsor. However, Whyte, despite employing an overt participant observer role, did increasingly come to view himself as 'one of the gang' during his fieldwork research. However, problems associated with overt observation could be the observer’s effect i.e. where the behaviour of those being studied may alter due to the presence of the researcher. In E. Baker’s ‘The making of a Moonie’, his research could be said to lack validity because the members would have acted in a way which appeals to the researcher.