Participant%20observation%20Some%20reflections%20on%20method

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Participant observationSome reflections on method

• Thomas Østerlie

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Participant observation

• Data collection method
• Participation in daily routines of the people
  studied
• The researcher taking field notes
• Degrees of participation and observation

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What does it mean to participate?

• Initially no reflected view
• Previous contributions to Gentoo
• Getting access
• Looked for a high-profile project

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• I dropped the ball

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Reflections

• Abandoned projects
• Accountability
• Significant participation development from
  scratch
• Life blood of Gentoo Linux is bug fixing

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Conclusion

• We seek methods to be aware of how our
  interaction with the field may influence the data
  collected
• However my view of what participation means
  influenced the data in the first place
• Participation therefore becomes a mechanism for
  validating my own understanding of the field

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Conclusion

• Not only did participation change my
  understanding of what it means to participate in
  Gentoo (i.e. it changed my object of study)
• My understanding of what it means to participate
  in Gentoo was originally formed by my own views