Observation in qualitative sociology

Sociology

Abstract

Observation in qualitative research is defined as the understanding of social life of a variety of communities based on the behavior of people in physical space and time. It includes, on the one hand, the perception of what is happening directly (speech, gestures, bodily movement), on the other hand, is the understanding (interpretation) of the meaning a particular social situation, invisibly present in what is happening directly. Reliance on ideas of A. Schutz allows included and excluded observations correlate with two parallel ways of human existence: as unique individuals with communicating, although never transparent to the end internal worlds, and of people as social types whose behavior can be understood in the framework of typical social situations. In the first case, the observer and the observable characters live in a common space and a common internal time (Henri Bergson), the observer participates in the life process of the community, he catches the thoughts of others, has common hopes, worries and plans for the future. His biography and life experiences become part of the biographies and life experience of others. In the latter case, the unification of the inner worlds of people and their behavior, and then to understand the behavior of another person is enough to determine how it should behave as the type.