Participant observation and systems theory: Theorizing the ground

Abstract

Ethnographers appear to be fascinated by what they immediately experience as fieldworkers. However, although they represent themselves as participant observers, they have neglected to develop a theory of observation. Systems theorists have a theory of second order observation, but they tend to avoid conducting fieldwork. In this paper, we argue that systems theory and ethnography can effectively supplement each other. Drawing on the concept of self-reference, we examine the relationship between perception, observation, and understanding. Ethnographers have not adequately explained how these fundamental concepts fit together, as we show in a discussion of Clifford Geertz' call for »thick description.« A special form of observing, understanding reaches beyond perception. Meaning and culture appear only in the light of self-reference. As participants, ethnographers must not only observe what happens in the field; but they must also observe connections between empirical events. They must observe the process of selectivity that uses meaning to differentiate what actually happens from alternative possibilities. Guided in the field by this theory of observation, ethnography can move beyond collecting »stories« and effectively open itself to the established questions, familiar problems, and epistemological resources of the discipline of sociology. For its part, a theoretically informed ethnography would help extend the scope of systems theoretical research beyond functional and historical analyses. Making their observations in the form of ethnography, systems theorists might focus on explaining how social practices unfold themselves with reference to the social dimension of meaning.