Bias as a Research Strategy in Participant Observation: The Case of Intergroup Conflict

Abstract

Participant observation (PO) is one of the more fruitful methodological approaches to studying crowd behavior. This article argues that, since crowd behavior characteristically takes place in a context of intergroup conflict, PO may involve having to take sides to gather data. Possible sources of bias within a partisan PO framework are examined, including bias in access, in observation, and in analysis. Two examples vof partisan research on crowd conflict—a demonstration riot and an antiroads occupation—show that only the first of these forms of bias is unavoidable. However, it is posited that limited access to one of the groups in conflict is more than offset by the quality and quantity of data gathered from the other group and the subsequent objectivity this affords within the data analysis.