ABSTRACT
In the 1985/86 Academic Session, when the Liverpool City Council reorganized its further education service, it made clear its view that staff development had an important role in increasing the effectiveness of its Colleges. The Principal of South Mersey College participated in a number of short, self-contained staff development initiatives, but he also elected to conduct an action-research programme spanning four years in the corporate life of his own College. The Tavistock Institute of Human Relations has also been a devotee of participant observer methods. The community studied by the participant observer may be as small as a family or as large as a city. Participant observation is a highly individual technique. Like observation techniques conducted in secrecy, unobtrusive measures allow investigations to be carried out without the subjects being aware of them. Finally, participant observation is a process demanding a great deal of skill and competence on the part of the researcher.
