Data recording is often very difficult for the researcher in participant observation.

Your status in relation to informants is not an aspect to consider in choosing an observer role in an observational setting.

One characteristic of participant observation is experiencing the activity or event as only insider.

As observer as participant, your identity as a researcher would not be clear to all concerned and they would not know your purpose.

As a collaborative observer you would seek interactions with those who collaborate.

Virtually all data collected by participant observation are useful.

The depth of understanding you will need to develop in the observational setting is not an aspect to consider in choosing an observer role in an observational setting.

In ethnographic research strategy the researcher conducts observations where informants is dead.

Despite observation offering the opportunity to collect rich and detailed research data, it is often neglected by students and researchers as a research method.

As a collaborative observer you would seek to try to recognise how your own position could affect the nature of the observations.