It seems to me that one of the nearest parallels to the original observation is in linguistics, where spoken corpora - huge databases of spoken language - are built up by asking people to wear inconspicuous microphones for a period of time so that informal, everyday conversations can be recorded. The results are then transcribed and entered into the corpus for linguists to study. In this case, of course, ethical consent procedures are followed. It seems to me that these corpora, though compiled for linguistic purposes, might yield interesting sociological insights, just as, in reverse, I have found the Worktown papers to be a valuable resource for studying the spoken language in the 1930s, though the archive was not compiled for that purpose. It might be as close as we can get to the spirit of the original anyway...
Ivor
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Oh Bob.... sorry if I sounded bossy. I am delighted you have reactivated
the discussion list!
I always defend the orginal Mass Observers from accusations of voyeurism or
espionage by saying that they only did what anyone with an interest in
human behavious and psychology might do which is to listen to what people
say at bus stops or in shops and other public places.
But the world is a much more litigious place now, and people are more
sensitive about surveillance and their privacy (eavesdropping, wires, phone
tapping, CCTV, photography). It means that the Archive as a charity has to
be careful if something is done in its name. We rely on funding from public
sources so must comply with ethical standards.
I think that there is obviously a role of observation in social research
but it needs to be collectively and systematically planned with some shared
training and a awy of being able to reply on the authenticity of results. I
speak from years of experience answering researchers' enquiries about using
the original observations. Any anthropologists out there wish to come in
on this in relation to their own ethnographic work?
Dorothy
--On 15 July 2009 10:58 +0000 bob niblett <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
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>
>
> OK, I'll consider myself suitably reprimanded and will try not to be so
> nosey in future.
> (It's just that I've recently been reading a few of the Faber reprints of
> early Massobs work and had started to see myself in black and white in a
> trilby ..!
>
>
> --- On Wed, 15/7/09, Alison Graddon <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
>
> From: Alison Graddon <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: [MASSOBS] 'Observers'
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Wednesday, 15 July, 2009, 9:51 AM
>
>
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> Excellent response Dorothy.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: A discussion and announcement list for the Mass-Observation
> community [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Dorothy Sheridan
> Sent: 14 July 2009 15:53
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: [MASSOBS] 'Observers'
>
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> Thanks for the suggestion, Bob.
> Can I say that there is nothing to stop individuals from recording this
> as
> they wish but I really must stress that the Mass Observation Archive, as
> it
> is now constituted, could NOT endorse this more direct surveillance.
>
> Interesting as it is to read about the ethnographic work carried out by
> Mass Observation in the past (eg in Bolton), the ethics of social
> research
> are now very much more stringent. The Trustees would not want the
> Archive
> associated with such an approach unless it was carefully thought through
>
> and the Observers trained- whatever that might mean.
>
> Our focus today is on autobiography. We ask our volunteer writers to
> tell
> us about themselves. Of course that includes being observant so they do
> record what goes on around them but I think this is more like the
> wartime
> diarists that the Mass Observers in Bolton who deliberately did not
> reveal
> much about themselves.
> Dorothy
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
> Professor Dorothy Sheridan
> Development Director
> Mass Observation Archive
> University of Sussex
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --On 13 July 2009 14:08 +0000 bob niblett <[log in to unmask]>
> wrote:
>
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>> clicking 'reply' sends your message to the list.
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>>
>>
>> Hello there, Colleagues and Chums...
>>
>> It's just a passing thought, but I wondered whether, in addition to
>> providing your own valuable personal testimony, there are any of you
>> here who are also carrying out 'undercover' research for Massobs along
>> the lines it was first conceived - by observing and recording public
>> opinion on specified topics and listening to the opinions of people
> in
>> their own environment. (This was what Stephen Spender described as
> being
>> 'spies, pryers, mass-eavesdroppers, nosey parkers, peeping-toms,
> lopers,
>> snoopers, envelope-steamers, keyhole artists..' etc.)
>>
>> I appreciate in these days that it's rather more suspect to be
> sitting
>> in a pub on your own, listening to the conversation of those around
> you
>> and making notes! But following my recent retirement, I've been
>> getting about a bit more and somehow can't seem to help constantly
>> overhearing the views of those around me - (my wife says that
> perhaps
>> I should be talking to her instead!). So, if it's not being done
>> already, might we not do a bit of eavesdropping and collating of
> public
>> opinion for the benefit of Massobs?
>>
>> With kind regards
>>
>> Bob
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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