Participant Observation

Ancient Hawaiian craft of beating Kapa.
Ancient Hawaiian craft of beating Kapa.

NPS photo by Jay Robinson

Participant observation involves extensive time in a culture watching and learning what people do and how they do it. Through participant observation, a researcher can verify information that has been gleaned from interviews and provide information that the indigenous peoples may forget to tell the researcher because it is considered either universally known or assumed.

Last updated: March 2, 2016