Participerende observatie en enquête

Samenvatting

A comment on the book by C. J. Lammers, Het Koninglijk instituut voor de marine (The Royal Naval Institute, no publisher or place, 1963). The book is a study of the Dutch Royal Naval Instit, with special reference to the differences between naval reserve officers (ARO's) and professional midshipmen (adelborsten). It combines participant observation (Lammers was trained at the Instit as a naval reserve officer) and a survey. Lammers claims that the survey proved more effective and that his participant observation was merely a 'preliminary.' It is objected that: (1) Lammers merely proved how difficult it is to confirm sociological data; (2) his participant observation produced more conclusive data than his survey; (3) he used his survey to confirm the data of his participant observation only in cases where his results coincided; and (4) he reduced his participant observation to a 'preliminary,' although the data it produced were as scientificly valid as those of his survey. I. Langnas.