informant

Definition of Informant

(noun) An individual that shares knowledge with a researcher from an insider’s perspective, particularly for ethnographic research.

Example of Informant

• The Community Outreach and Volunteer Coordinator at a domestic violence shelter that facilitates access to staff members and volunteers for research purposes.

Informant Pronunciation

Pronunciation Usage Guide

Syllabification: in·for·mant

Audio Pronunciation

International Phonetic Alphabet

• American English – /ᵻnˈfɔrm(ə)nt/
• British English – /ɪnˈfɔːm(ə)nt/

Usage Notes

• Plural: informants
• A type of individual.
• The terms “informant” and “respondent” are often used interchangeably. However, they are separate terms. “Informant” connotes qualitative research and “respondent” connotes quantitative research.
• A key informant (also called gatekeeper) is a primary source for an ethnographic researcher that often enthusiastically shares information and facilitates access to other people.
• Also called:
  • participant
  • source
• An informant (verb) informs and is an (noun) informer.

Related Quotations

• “An informant is neither a subject in a scientific experiment nor a respondent who answers the investigator’s questions. An informant is a teacher who has a special kind of student: a professional anthropologist [or sociologist]” (Spradley and McCurdy 2008:4).
• “Ethnographers seek out the insider’s viewpoint. Because culture is the knowledge people use to generate behavior and interpret experience, the ethnographer seeks to understand group members’ behavior from the inside, or cultural, perspective. Instead of looking for a subject to observe, ethnographers look for an informant to teach them the culture” (Spradley and McCurdy 2008:4).

Related Video

Additional Information

• Qualitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
• Word origin of “informant” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
• Atkinson, Paul. 1990. The Ethnographic Imagination: Textual Constructions of Reality. London: Routledge.
• Behar, Ruth. 1996. The Vulnerable Observer: Anthropology that Breaks Your Heart. Boston: Beacon Press.
• Emerson, Robert M., Rachel I. Fretz, and Linda L. Shaw. 2011. Writing Ethnographic Fieldnotes. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Morse, Janice M. 1991. “Subjects, Respondents, Informants, and Participants?” Qualitative Health Research 1(4):403–406. doi:10.1177/104973239100100401.
• van Maanen, John. 2011. Tales of the Field: On Writing Ethnography. 2nd ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
• Wolcott, Harry F. 2009. Writing Up Qualitative Research. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

Related Terms

• analysis
• case
• continuer
• data
• detached observation
• ethnography
• gatekeeping
• informed consent
• method
• observation
• research

Reference

Spradley, James P., and David W. McCurdy. 2008. Conformity and Conflict: Readings in Cultural Anthropology. 13th ed. Boston: Pearson Education.

Cite the Definition of Informant

ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “informant.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 28, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/informant/).

APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)

informant. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/informant/

Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)

Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “informant.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 28, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/informant/.

MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)

“informant.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 28 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/informant/>.