A complete participant - The researcher conceals the fact that they are doing research and this is known as Covert Observation. An example of this could be somebody joining a circle of friends in a school without them knowing they are observing them, this could be to investigate something like an anti-school sub-culture.
A participant observer - The researcher is actively involved with the group but is known to be researching, this is known as Overt Observation. An example is a researcher sitting in a class room observing students in their lessons and writing notes down and maybe even interviewing them afterwards.
A non-participant observer - The researcher is detached and an unobtrustive onlooker. This can either be covert or overt. This type of observation is necessarry when the researcher is very different from those being researched because of their age or sex for example.
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