Researching spoonbending: Concepts and practice of participatory fieldwork

Collins, Harold Maurice ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2909-9035 1984. Researching spoonbending: Concepts and practice of participatory fieldwork. Bell, Colin and Roberts, Helen, eds. Social Researching: Politics, Problems, Practice, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 54-69. (10.4324/9781003457367-4)

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Abstract

This chapter reflects upon and generalises from Harry Collin's experiences of working with ‘spoonbenders’. A standard approach to participant observation treats the options available to the researcher as lying on a continuum between complete participation —— with associated difficulties of observation —— and total concentration on observation with hardly any participation. Participant observation on Mars would present technical problems to the ‘sociological costumier’ —— how to provide authentic-looking wrinkled green skins —— and to language laboratory. The spirit in which the language and the natives’ way of life is learned is the same as the spirit in which the green skin is donned. A final difference between unobtrusive observation and participant comprehension lies in their claims to objectivity. The ambition of unobtrusive observation is to compare inaccuracy with other methods of sociological research. The fieldworker is rarely or never in the position to choose a method of research free of the constraints of time, money, social skills and linguistic resources.

Item Type:	Book Section
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Social Sciences (Includes Criminology and Education)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General)
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9780710098849
Last Modified:	17 Oct 2025 13:54
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/91283

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