- Empathy (understanding that comes from putting yourself in another person’s place).
- It allows the sociologist to start with an open mind rather than with a fixed hypothesis or questions. As new situations are encountered new explanations can be formulated and followed up there and then.
- Re-entering one’s normal world can be difficult; loyalty may prevent the researcher from disclosing what they have learnt in case this harms the group.
- It avoids ethical problems of deception and of having to join in illegal activities. It allows the observer to use interviews, ask naïve but important questions and take notes openly.
- (a) The group studied is usually small and the sample often selected haphazardly. (b) It is a unique method where much depends on the personal characteristics of the individual researcher, making it difficult for others to replicate; it produces qualitative data, making comparisons with other studies difficult.
- We can see for ourselves what people actually do, rather than what they say they do; we can experience their way of life first hand and so gain a true insight.
