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Prayer, Contentious Politics, and the Women of the Wall: The Benefits of Collaboration in Participant Observation at Intense, Multifocal Events

Social scientists who engage in qualitative fieldwork typically follow the ethnographic model of the single scholar in the field. We argue that collaboration in on-site participant observation is an underutilized but vital methodological tool, particularly in the case of one common form of communal conflict in the late-modern period: intense, multifocal events. At mass demonstrations, rallies with small groups of opposing forces, and other public events involving multiple actors, sights, sounds, and interactions, collaboration provides multiple perspectives in a given research moment that one researcher cannot, by definition, experience and observe alone. By joining forces, two researchers may exploit variations in their physical vantage points, disciplinary training, range of area knowledge, and personal background (including gender, ethnicity, religion, and class) to produce more accurate and more meaningful studies. We support our claims with evidence from our own impromptu on-site collaboration in the case of a women’s prayer session at the Western Wall in Jerusalem in June 2000.