Community-based Participant-observation (CBPO): A Participatory Method for Ethnographic Research
Publication Date
2-1-2024
Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Field Methods
Volume
36
Issue
1
DOI
10.1177/1525822X231198989
First Page
80
Last Page
90
Abstract
Community-based participant-observation purposefully combines participant-observation and community-based participatory research. While participant-observation is the core method of ethnography and foundational to cultural anthropology, community-based participatory research initially emerged from health and related applied sciences to align researchers’ and communities’ agendas through focused collaboration. Participant-observation and community-based participatory research have different scholarly origins and norms but are united in centering communities’ understandings on their terms. Combining the strengths of both, we provide a step-by-step explanation of community-based participant-observation, with examples from a study of water insecurity in colonias north of the U.S.–Mexico border. Using community-based participant-observation, researchers can facilitate the co-production of knowledge and community benefit by analyzing high-quality data that inform theory building and basic research.
Funding Number
2021147
Funding Sponsor
National Science Foundation
Department
Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Anais Roque, Amber Wutich, Alexandra Brewis, Melissa Beresford, Laura Landes, Olga Morales-Pate, Ramon Lucero, Wendy Jepson, Yushiou Tsai, Michael Hanemann, and Action for Water Equity Consortium. "Community-based Participant-observation (CBPO): A Participatory Method for Ethnographic Research" Field Methods (2024): 80-90. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X231198989
