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Ethnography as a research method is, indeed, the most suitable for the study on drug use and related issues. This method has already become a classic and has established itself as the most effective in studies of closed groups (Ferguson, 2017; Turner, 2019). Moreover, the research of such phenomena is impossible using standard qualitative and quantitative methods. Therefore, the mentioned anonymous survey does not appear to be a viable method for quantifying drug addiction prevalence on campus.
On the other hand, the causal relationship model obtained as a result of the study should contain some predictions about when the found relationship will be fulfilled or not fulfilled. However, ethnography does not require an explicit formulation of theoretical predictions (although it does not exclude them). For example, such predictions about who will and who will not use drugs, or how different groups will experience “withdrawal,” are rarely tested. Therefore, the researcher using this method should be especially attentive to the development of theoretical predictions that are subject to verification.
Participatory observation, like other methods, faces external and internal validity problems. That is, as in the case of an experiment or sample survey, the researcher must somehow determine whether their results can be generalized and transferred to other similar groups (external validity). They must also make sure that their results are not a by-product of the observation process itself (internal validity), that is, possible sources of bias should be considered. They include historical development, “maturation” of respondents during the study, reactive effects, and many others.
References
Ferguson, R.-H. (2017). Offline ‘stranger’ and online lurker: Methods for an ethnography of illicit transactions on the darknet. Qualitative Research, 17(6), 683–698. Web.
Turner, T. (2019). ‘Just knocking out pills’: An ethnography of British drug dealers in Ibiza. Journal of Extreme Anthropology, 3(1), 102–120. Web.
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