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Madinat al-Muslimeen Islamic Message Board
| Islamic research on young british Muslims? |
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| Anonymous |
| 11/10/03 at 17:15:47 |
| Salaam & Ramadan Mubarak, okay i'm hoping there is someone out there that can share their expertise or mere opinion with me. I am doing an ethnographic module at uni and have been asked to do a project on participant observation. I have always wanted to do something active on the struggles of muslims so this was a golden opportunity. i chose to study young british muslims in higher education and their views on 'islamophobia'. the problem being that i dont see how i could actively participate as an observer in this context?????? :( i havnt yet submitted my final proposal- so still have room to alter the hypothesis question- plz plz plz could you share any views/ideas that might help A.S.A.P. Thanx for reading this. wasalaamualaikum. |
| Re: Islamic research on young british Muslims? |
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| Danyala |
| 11/20/03 at 18:37:07 |
| [slm] Hmmmm....Correct me if I'm wrong, but as a british Muslim yourself in higher education arnt you already a participant observer? 'Participant observation...entails the relatively prolonged immersion of the observer in a social setting in which he or she seeks to observe the behaviour of members of that setting (group, organization, community, etc.) and to elicit the meanings they attribute to their environment and behaviour.' (taken from 'Social Research Methods' by Alan Bryman). Taken from the same book p.291 'Many definitions of ethnography and participant observaton are very difficult to distinguish. Both draw attention to the fact that the participant observer/ethnographer immerses him - or herself in a group for an extended period of time, observing behaviour, listening to what is said in conversations both between others and the fieldworker, and asking questions...in practice participant observers do more than simply observe. Typically, participant observers and ethnographers will gather further data through interviews and the collection of documents...' Perhaps going out with a group of Muslims and recording their reactions to any islamophobic comments that are made while out? Starting a conversation/discussion on how they have felt over past islamophobic experiences? Striking up a conversation about if they have felt attitudes change towards Islam in the past couple of years and if so how and why they think that is? InshaAllah this has helped - I do know someone who studied sociology to a greater extent than myself and possibly undertook such a project - so if you need any more help i'd be happy to pass on your details to her. Let me know inshaAllah. [wlm] ps just thot i would i would have add that a disadvantage is that you might be accused of what is known as 'going native': 'Going native refers to a plight that is supposed sometimes to afflict ethnographers when they lose their sense of being a researcher and become wrapped up in the world view of the people they are studying...Going native is a potential roblem fro several reasons but especially because the ethnographer can lose sight of his or her position as a researcher and therefore find it difficult to develop a social scientific angle on the collection and analysis of data' (Bryman, 2001: 300). In short I recommend that you check out the Bryman book from the library! :D wasalams |
| 11/20/03 at 18:56:09 |
| Danyala |
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