Likewise, interviewing skills are essential for the observer because, during fieldwork, you will need and want to talk with people, whether formally or informally. Participant observers gather a great deal of information through informal, naturally occurring conversations. Understanding that interviewing and observation are mutually reinforcing qualitative techniques is a bridge to understanding the fundamentally people-oriented nature of qualitative inquiry.

• Design the fieldwork to be clear about the role of the observer (degree of participation); the tension between insider (emic) and outsider (etic) perspectives; degree and nature of collaboration with co-researchers; disclosure and explanation of the observer’s role to others; duration of observations (short versus long); and focus of observation (narrow vs. broad).

• Role of the Evaluation Observer:

• Insider Versus Outsider Perspective:

• Who Conducts the Inquiry:

• Duration of Observations and Fieldwork:

• Focus of Observations:

• Use of Predetermined Sensitizing Concepts

• Be descriptive in taking field notes. Strive for thick, deep, and rich description.

• Stay open. Gather a variety of information from different perspectives. Be opportunistic in following leads and sampling purposefully to deepen understanding. Allow the design to emerge flexibly as new understandings open up new paths of inquiry.

• Cross-validate and triangulate by gathering different kinds of data: observations, interviews, documents, artifacts, recordings, and photographs. Use multiple and mixed methods.

• Use quotations; represent people in their own terms. Capture participants' views of their experiences in their own words.

• Select key informants wisely and use them carefully. Draw on the wisdom of their informed perspectives, but keep in mind that their perspectives are selective.

• Be aware of and strategic about the different stages of fieldwork.
  • Build trust and rapport at the entry stage. Remember that the observer is also being observed and evaluated.
  • Attend to relationships throughout fieldwork and the ways in which relationships change over the course of fieldwork, including relationships with hosts, sponsors within the setting, and co-researchers in collaborative and participatory research.
  • Stay alert and disciplined during the more routine, middle phase of fieldwork.
  • Focus on pulling together a useful synthesis as fieldwork draws to a close. Move from generating possibilities to verifying emergent patterns and confirming themes.
  • Be disciplined and conscientious in taking detailed field notes at all stages of fieldwork.
  • Provide formative feedback as part of the verification process of fieldwork. Time that feedback carefully. Observe its impact.

• Be as involved as possible in experiencing the program setting as fully as is appropriate and manageable while maintaining an analytical perspective grounded in the purpose of the evaluation.

• Separate description from interpretation and judgment.

• Be reflective and reflexive. Include in your field notes and reports your own experiences, thoughts, and feelings. Consider and report how your observations may have affected the observed as well as how you may have been affected by what and how you’ve participated and observed. Ponder and report the origins and implications of your own perspective.