Hi all, Participant observation is well documented in anthropological literature so I may have a look there. There are, of course, issues with this methodology, like all others. Mainly, they are of the ethical kind - how not to influence the observed, whether or not to let them know that you are participating in order to observe them or not, whether you should interfere in interactions that are uncomfortable for you or unethical in your eyes (domestic violence, drug dealing, etc.), etc. Just a heads up because I have seen, in my own work, that these issues do have an influence on outcomes.
Also, self-reporting techniques are useful in conjunction with participant observation. That way, you can be a bit more sure that it isn't your perception of participation that feeds the analysis. Cheers, Christine On Thu, Jan 22, 2009 at 8:22 AM, Joshua Ayers <[email protected]>wrote: > I've never heard of anyone doing this, but I have to agree that it is > an excellent idea. Having personas to help develop applications is one > thing, but to actually take on the role of a potential user is even > better! > > > . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . > Posted from the new ixda.org > http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=37492 > > > ________________________________________________________________ > Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! > To post to this list ....... [email protected] > Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe > List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines > List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help > ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
