ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the ways in which values and politics in participant observation have been approached and a few illustrations of related controversies. It describes participant observers to exercise value reflexivity in formulating and conducting research. Participant observation is conducted within human cultures complete with a multiplicity of different values and politics. Positivist positions on values assert the ultimate value of science based on the objective, value-free character of scientific truth. The humanist position on values acknowledges that the value of the human sciences raises serious questions, and the value of science most commonly is seen in relativistic terms. Values are central to public education in the United States; and education supported by public funding is legislatively controlled and therefore political. Values oftentimes result in personal dilemmas and sometimes personal conflicts. Values and politics pervade her participant observational research at every turn.
