Membership Roles in Field Research

There are a range of possible roles that can be played by ethnographers in field research. The choice of role will affect the type of information available to the researcher and the kind of ethnography written. The authors discuss the problems and advantages at each level of involvement and give examples of modern ethnographic studies.For researchers who hold a tradional image of themselves -- as scientist studying the `natives'' -- the role of the detached observer works best. More often though researchers become participant and partial members of the group. In settings involving urban subcultures and deviant groups the ethnographer will need to assume a more active role to secure the trust of the group. In some cases the researcher becomes a fully-fledged participant in the phenomenon studied.