On Jan 23, 2009, at 6:04 PM, Robert Hoekman Jr wrote:
So, out of all that, I started thinking that since "contextual
inquiry"
basically means going into someone's context and, well, inquiring,
then
"contextual participation" could be an appropriate name, because this
technique means going into someone's context and actually, well,
participating.
Why does acting as a "participant-observer" not work for your
purposes? (Don't confuse it with "observing participants" or some
such.) It's a really well-known social research method. The results
don't have to be qualitative data but they usually are. It can involve
ethnography or not. The key thing is that you are a full participant
in the activity (and qualified to perform it). A lot has been written
about the difficulties with it. You have to immerse yourself in the
activity and the group yet somehow during analysis remove yourself
from the activity and "make it strange" again.
-Tanya
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