| Abstract:
This workshop is intended for evaluation practitioners, academics, and students interested in expanding their use and understanding of participant observation. Participant observation, as opposed to non-participant or direct observation, is a method in which the evaluator takes part, more or less, in the everyday activities of the practice or program under study. Participants in this workshop will share their experiences with participant observation, engage in some participant observing, and trouble the distinction made between an explicit culture, as enacted or reported by people involved in the evaluand, and the evaluator's tacit experiences of the culture so enacted. Some questions addressed: What are the advantages of 'being there' and how can those advantages be maximized? To what extent are concepts like emic, etic, insider, outsider, subjective and objective, useful in evaluation theory and practice? What are current perspectives and practices of how to incorporate the evaluator's experiences in the final report?
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