Untitled

Observations

method:

Why use

observation to collect data?

Observation

methods

CHARACTERISTICS

OF THE QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY

QUANTITATIVE

METHODOLOGY

Structured

observation

Observation

methods are useful to researchers in a variety of ways. They provide

researchers with methods for reviewing nonverbal expressions of feelings,

determining who interacts with whom, and understanding how participants

communicate with each other.

The first

characteristic of these methods is manifested in its strategy of trying to know

facts, processes, structures and people as a whole, and not through the

measurement of some of its elements.

The second

feature is the use of less time-consuming procedures and different cultural

circumstances, ie this method seeks less generalization and is closer to

symbolic phenomenology and interactionism

A third

important strategic feature for this work is the role of the researcher in his

intensive treatment with the people involved in the research process, to

understand them. The researcher develops or affirms the central patterns and

problems of his or her work during the same research process.

The

Quantitative Methodology is one that allows to examine the data numerically,

especially in the field of Statistics. For there to be Quantitative

Methodology, it is required that there be clarity between the elements of the

research problem that make up the problem, that it is possible to define it, to

limit it and to know exactly where the problem begins

It has a

quantitative approach and is one that is performed when the problem has been

clearly defined and allows an accurate study of the patterns of behavior to be

observed and measured. It is more appropriate for conclusive research studies,

since it imposes limitations on the observer or the investigator, to increase

its precision and objectivity, and thus obtain adequate information of the

phenomenon of interest.

Environment:

A situation

can take place in different places and it is convenient to know, besides, the

aspect of the environment, what kind of behavior is facilitated, allowed,

discouraged or prohibited. The psychological or social characteristics of the environment

can be described in terms of what type of behavior is approved or rejected.

Participant

Observation

It is the

observation realized by the researcher integrated to the group that studied to

be more of the same member. Your participation will not influence the group in

any way. Participant observation allows the recording of nonverbal behaviors

and a more intimate understanding of the behaviors of the group members to

which the researcher has been incorporated.

Descriptive record

Descriptive records are often more frequent and more complex than anecdotal records.

• They try to capture more important elements and in more detail.

Checklist

§The checklist is a tool that you can use

to systematically observe a process by filling a list of closed questions.

§

Rating scale

§They indicate the measure or degree in

which the feature appears. They Indicate the measure or degree in which the

feature appears to the observer.

Relative Advantages of Observation

Relative Disadvantages of Observation

Natural and artificial obstruction

Direct and indirect observation

An advantage of the observation method

is that it allows the measurement of actual behavior. There

is no reporting bias, and the potential bias caused by the interviewer and the

interview process is eliminated or reduced. Certain types of data can only be

obtained through observation, including patterns of behavior that the

participant does not know or is not able to communicate.

One of the most important drawbacks in

the observation is that the reasons for the observed behavior are probably not

defined. This is because little is known about the underlying motives, beliefs,

attitudes and preferences

Natural observation takes place in a

natural environment, that is, as events unfold without ever being forced by the

researcher. It is the most realistic and accurate form of observation, but in

many cases it is a long wait for results. In the artificial observation the

observer intervenes deliberately altering in some way the context or

environment to generate a concrete and observable situation

§Direct observation

occurs without any intermediation with the observed reality, directly by the

observed. While the indirect is done on something that has already occurred but

whose consequences we have somehow recorded by waste (eg

empty containers), stock control, etc.