Naturalistic observation refers to the study of organisms in their natural habitat or habitual surroundings without manipulation or purposeful influence from the researcher, which does not disrupt the natural course of events or cause a response. Participant observation is a descriptive research method in which people’s behavior in the natural conditions of everyday life is studied, and the researcher is a member of the experimental group (Passer, 2020). The main difference between these two methods is that in the latter, the researcher joins and becomes part of the group they are studying to gain a deeper understanding of what is being observed.
For example, it is necessary to find out students’ views on the educational process in an educational institution. The participant observation method will be much more effective because the basic rationale for observation is that there may be important information that is only available or can only be interpreted by someone who is an active participant in the group or situation. Students may hide their real points of view; hence, teachers need an independent participant in that group, such as a new student interested in improving the educational process or a teacher the students trust to find out. The observer should enter into the discussion of the students and be an active participant in it. Then he or she needs to learn the students’ opinions gradually. In this way, information can be gathered that can be used to improve the educational process.
In this study, I would use the method of disguised participant observation. In disguised participant observation, researchers pretend to be members of the social group they are observing and hide their true identity as researchers. In this case, this type of observation will help discover truthful information. Although the researcher passively deceives participants by intentionally withholding information about their motives, disguised observation is necessary in many cases. For example, when it is necessary to gain access to a protective group.
Reference
Passer, M. (2020). Research Methods (3rd ed.). Macmillan Higher Education.