ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the problems of inference and proof in participant observation. The participant observer gathers data by participating in the daily life of the group or organization he studies. The observer selects concepts and defines problems for further investigation. He constructs a theoretical model to account for that one case, intending to refine it in the light of subsequent findings. The three stages of field analysis for observer are: the selection and definition of problems, concepts, and indices; the check on the frequency and distribution of phenomena; and the incorporation of individual findings into a model of the organization under study. The observer, possessing many provisional problems, concepts and indicators, now wishes to know which of these are worth pursuing as major foci of his study. The observer may have his problem well worked out and be actively looking for evidence to test a hypothesis, or he may not be as yet aware of the problem.
