Using examples from studies of dance clubs, the authors offer a solution for dealing with the problems of maintaining the optimal research distance in field investigations. This method is based on teamwork, in which one researcher assumes the role of participant-as-observer and the other has the role of observer-as-participant. In addition to describing the developments of the two roles, the authors provide firsthand accounts of common pitfalls in fieldwork and how they have handled them.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Agar, M. H.1996. The professional stranger. 2d ed.San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
2.
Angrosino, M. V.
, and K. A. Mays de Perez. 2000. Rethinking observation: From methods to context. In Handbook of qualitative research, 2d ed., edited by N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln, 673–702. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3.
Baker, T. L.1988. Doing social research. New York: McGraw-Hill.
4.
Bernard, H. R.
, ed. 1998. Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira.
5.
Bernard, H. R.
, ed. 2000. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
6.
Berreman, G. D.1962. Behind many masks. Ithaca, NY: Society for Applied Anthropology.
7.
Davis, F.1973. The Martian and the convert: Ontological polarities in social research. Urban Life2:333–343.
8.
Dewalt, K. M.
, B. R. Dewalt, and C. B. Wayland.1998. Participant observation. In Handbook of methods in cultural anthropology, edited by H. R. Bernard, 259–299. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira.
9.
Gold, R. L.1969. Roles in sociological field observations. In Issues in participant observation, edited by G. J. McCall and J. L. Simmons, 30–39. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
10.
Hong, L. K.
, and R. W. Duff.1976. Gentlemen's social club: Revival of taxi-dancing in Los Angeles. Journal of Popular Culture9:827–832.
11.
Hong, L. K.
, and R. W. Duff.1977. Becoming a taxi-dancer: The significance of neutralization in a semi-deviant occupation. Sociology of Work and Occupations4:327–342.
12.
Hong, L. K.
, and R. W. Duff.1997. The center and the peripheral: Functions and locations of dance clubs in Los Angeles. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography26:182–201.
13.
Janes, R. W.1969. A note on phases of the community role of the participant observer. In Issues in participant observation, edited by G. J. McCall and J. L. Simmons, 52–66. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
14.
Lofland, J.
, and L. H. Lofland.1984. Analyzing social setting. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
15.
Miller, S. M.1969. The participant observer and “over-rapport.” In Issues in participant observation, edited by G. J. McCall and J. L. Simmons, 87–89. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
16.
Neuman, W. L.1997. Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
17.
Spradley, J. P.1980. Participant observation. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
18.
Tedlock, B.2000. Ethnography and ethnographic representation. In Handbook of qualitative research, 2d ed., edited by N. K. Denzin and Y. S. Lincoln, 445–487. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
