Abstract
Of the various phases or stages of participant observation, the disengagement process has typically been glossed over in methodological discussions of qualitative research. Drawing on the author's fieldwork experience and on the scattered references to disengagement in the ethnographic literature, this paper systematically outlines and examines the problems and issues associated with this neglected phase of the fieldwork process. Three interrelated questions or issues structure the inquiry. The first deals with the problem of informational sufficiency and its relation to closure; the second with the various precipitants of disengagement; and the third with the factors that can function as barriers or impediments to disengagement.
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For their critical and helpful comments on an earlier version of this paper, I wish to thank Gideon Sjoberg, Sheldon Olson, and Ben Blount.
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Snow, D.A. The disengagement process: A neglected problem in participant observation research. Qual Sociol 3, 100–122 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987266
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00987266