Description
A 1000-1500 word reflection on a short participant observation exercise. A primary purpose of the essay is to identify how you would use participant observation to generate new knowledge, insights and understandings
The research topic is changes in gender norms and gender roles. I intend to make observations in university and pick a single place on campus where people congregate and interact like cafe or the food court. Pay attention to everything includes how people of different genders interact, how the space is set up, and what kinds of things people are doing, saying, wearing, etc. how you interact with others and how this may or may not relate to your gender.
Please include all the following:
1. Abstract (250 words)
identifies the social phenomenon you are researching, the main theoretical inspirations and overall research aims. Where and with whom did you practice participant observation? For how long? What are some initial overarching questions or ideas that emerged?
2. Participant Observation
The main body of the essay outlines how you used or are planning to use participant observation in order to generate knowledge and provide evidence to support your future project. You might want to discuss and explain the rationale behind your approach, how you position yourself in the field and your choice of methods but the primary focus needs to be on the practical aspects and details of how you carried out, or plan to carry out participant observation as part of the research process, the practical means by which you will generate the kinds of data you are interested in and is relevant to your project, a critical assessment of how you will negotiate key variables (eg age, class, gender, identity etc) and what forms of participant observation you will use to meet the primary research questions and aims you have identified in the earlier sections.
