ABSTRACT
In this chapter I examine some of the background to the debate about subjectivity in participant observation; the primary methodological technique in empirical anthropological research. Earlier versions given at seminars included more detail of my own fieldwork experience. This I have had to leave out for more elaborate analysis in future writing. Meanwhile, I have presented some of my fieldwork as examples in the approaches explored and suggested for participant observation. There is a need for more explicit recognition of fieldwork as personal experience instead of sacrificing it to a false notion of scientific objectivity.
