Observations

Observations

1. Planning

   • Before embarking on the planning stages of your observation you will find it helpful to be reasonably confident of two things: the focus of your study. the topic of your research, what it is you wish to explore and learn more about; and the research questions you intend to address
     • 1st choosing what to observe

2. Definition

   • 'research characterised by a prolonged period of intense social interaction between the researcher and the subjects, in the milieu of the latter, during which time data, in the form of field notes, are unobtrusively and systematically collected’ (Bogdan 1972: 3)
     • Merely asking about or reporting the activities people carry out in different social settings and situations will no doubt give you a flavour of what is involved, but in order to understand fully what these activities mean to people, how they themselves perceive them and what their perspective is on them, it is necessary to see those people in action, to experience what it is they do, even to wade in and have a go yourself

3. Conducting an observation

   • 1. Choosing what to observe: the social situation
     • All social situations possess three components: a location; the people (sometimes called actors); and the activity or activities taking place.
   • 2. Gaining access and establishing yourself
     • Your first task is to gain permission to conduct your study in your preferred setting.
       • be unobtrusive, be honest, be unassuming, be a good listener
   • 3. How to observe: telling the story
     • Set ourselves 6 questions: who, what, when, where, why and how
   • Capturing what you see

4. Issues

   • Observation is not a research method which suits everyone. It can consume a great deal of a researcher’s time and energy, and the reward for investing all that effort can be a long time coming. Yet observation can be one of the most professionally gratifying experiences a researcher can have.

5. Data analysis

   • Once you have decided which feature(s) of your chosen social setting you will observe, you should then devise a list of categories of behaviour (in the case of people) or activities (in the case of locations) which are of particular interest to you and your research project and that you intend to quantify

6. Uses

   • When the ways in which people behave and interact with one another in a social setting are important to your research.
   • When you are interested in researching social settings and what happens in them.
   • When the best way to research what you want to know is to experience it for yourself.
   • When the context of the events you are researching is important
     • THE DOCTOR–PATIENT CONSULTATION
       • how consultations are done or what happens during them; what kinds of notes the doctor takes; how the doctor uses the specialised medical equipment at his or her disposal; how long consultations take and what kinds of outcomes they have; how consultations at one surgery compare with those at another, and so on.

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