OBSERVATION

OBSERVATION

1. Conducting an observation

   • Identify Objective
     • Establish Recording Method
       • Develop Questions and Techniques
         • Observe and Take Notes
           • Analyze Behaviors and Inferences
             • Separate the difference between what you observed (which are factual behaviors) and why what you observed happened. Typically, to make some sense of your observed data, you will need to interview people in the environment you are observing, either during the observation itself, or afterwards. Make connections between interactions, responses, behaviors, and other phenomena.
           • Visit the space you are hoping to get information from. Be as unobtrusive as possible, taking notes, photographs, audio, and film, only where it is allowed, you have permission, and it makes sense for the research without disrupting the environment. If you are doing formal observations, will you need to code certain behaviors, actions, words, visuals, and other observed data.
         • Determine whether you are conducting an informal or a formal observation (see explanations to the far right.) Knowing your objective, determine if there are specific questions you have or if you are going in completely open-minded. What you hope to learn will help you know what specifically to look for. Be prepared when entering an observation space by having a sound understanding of the type of information you are trying learn.
       • To make observations most effective, it’s important that you minimize or eliminate any disruptive or unfamiliar devices into the environment you wish to observe. For example, it is often least effective to videorecord observations in situations where the people being observed know they are being filmed (but it’s usually unethical to film without telling them. Note-taking is the most common method, though in some public spaces you can take photographs, audio recordings, and other methods.
     • Determine what you want to observe and why. Are looking to see how students respond to a new environment? How customers interact with employees? How bosses interact with subordinates? When conducting observations, you are trying to learn habits, patterns, behaviors, reactions, and general information about people in a particular environment to better understand what they do and, hopefully eventually, why they do it (though observations alone often won’t tell you the “why”).

2. Issues

   • Selection Bias. Selection bias is preferential inclusion of subjects with certain treatment outcomes. ... Information Bias. ... Confounding. ... Publication Bias. ... Study Relevance. ... Study Validity. ... Influence of Study Design on Confounding. ... Data Collection to Assess Evidence of Confounding.

3. Definition

   • Observation is a method of data collection in which researchers observe within a specific research field.
     • Observation is normally associated with an ethnographic methodology.
       • The research is better able to understand and capture the context within which people interact
       • • The research may see things that routinely escape awareness of the participant using a different method
       • It provides a chance to learn things that people may be unwilling to discuss in an interview

4. Uses

   • Observational research is used when other data collection procedures, such as surveys, questionnaires, etc. are not effective or adequate. When the goal is to evaluate an ongoing behaviour process, event, or situation; or when there are physical outcomes that can be readily seen. Observational research typically provides qualitative data as the researcher is observing the subject in their natural setting. The output of Observational research, is sometimes followed with a quantitative survey to support certain behaviors/observations, correlate and derive more meaningful insights.

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