Acting Observer
An observer who neither acts nor communicates may be something what disturbs in a situation more than anything else. In case you are going to record a situation from the “Lebenswelt” you have to step into real interaction if you are the one who uses a camera or a micro. By this you colour the situation by your biases and idiosyncrasies but this situation is more informative than a situation which is observed in a seeming neutral way. The same distinction can be made regarding audio. The concept of the Acting Observer differs significantly from the concept of the Participating Observer (Bronislaw Malinowski).