Observation
What you see is what you get
Observation Research Defined
Observation research can be defined as the
systematic process of recording the
behavioral patterns of people, objects, and
occurrences without questioning or
communicating with them.
Observational Situations
Situation
Example
People watching people
Observers stationed in supermarkets watch
consumers select frozen Mexican dinners.
The purpose is to see how much comparison
shopping people do at the point of purchase.
People watching
phenomena
Observer stationed at an intersection counts
traffic moving in various directions.
Machines watching
people
Move or videotape cameras record behavior
as in people-watching-people example.
Machines watching
phenomena
Traffic-counting machines monitor traffic
flow.
What can be observed
 Human behaviour and physical actions
 Verbal behaviour
 Expressive behaviour
 Spatial relations and locations
 Temporal patterns
 Physical objects
 Verbal or pictorial records
WHAT CAN BE OBSERVED
Phenomena
Example
Human behavior or physical
action
Shoppers movement
pattern in a store
Verbal behavior
Statements made by
airline travelers who wait
in line
Expressive behavior
Facial expressions, tone of
voice, and other form of
body language
WHAT CAN BE OBSERVED
Phenomena
Example
Spatial relations
and locations
How close visitors at an
art museum stand to paintings
Temporal patterns
How long fast-food customers
wait for their order to be served
Physical objects
What brand name items are
stored in consumers’ pantries
Verbal and Pictorial
Records
Bar codes on product packages
Approaches
– Natural versus contrived situations.
– Visible/open versus disguised/hidden
situations.
– Structured versus unstructured
observation.
– Human versus machine observation.
– Direct versus indirect observation.
Advantages and Disadvantages of
Observation Research

Advantages
– Observation research provides the
researcher the opportunity to watch what
people actually do rather than relying on
reports of what they say they do.
– This approach can avoid much of the
biasing factors caused by the interviewer
and question structure associated with the
survey approach.
•Communication with respondent is not necessary
•Data without distortions due to self-report (e.g.: without social
desirability)
•Bias
•No need to rely on respondents memory
•Nonverbal behavior data may be obtained
•Certain data may be obtained more quickly
•Environmental conditions may be recorded
•May be combined with other methods to provide supplemental
evidence
Disadvantages
– Only behavior and physical personal
characteristics can usually be examined.
The researcher does not learn about
motives, attitudes, intentions, or feelings.
– Observation research can be time
consuming and costly if the observed
behavior occurs rather infrequently.
– Interpretation of data may be a problem
– Possible invasion of privacy
Who sees what where…
Humans observing Humans

Mystery Shoppers
– People employed to pose as consumers
and shop at the employer’s competitors to
compare prices, displays, and the like.

One-Way Mirror Observations
– The practice of watching unseen from
behind a one-way mirror.

Shopper Patterns
– Drawings that record the footsteps of a
shopper through a store.

Response latency
– Recording the decision time necessary to
make a choice between two alternatives.

Test sites
Humans observing Physical
Objects
Content Analysis
–A technique used to study written material
(advertising copy, newspapers, minutes) by
breaking it into meaningful units, using
carefully applied rules.
Physical
trace evidence
–Study of visible signs of past
event/occurrence.
–garbology
Physical Audit
–The examination and verification of the sales of
a product.
–Pantry audits
Machine Observing People

Electroencephalogram (EEG)
– A machine that measures the rhythmic
fluctuations in electrical potential of the
brain and can be used to measure an
individual’s emotional response to a
stimulus.

Eye tracking monitors
– Record how subject reads or views
phenomenon

Pupilometer
– Observes and records changes in the
diameter of subjects pupils which changes
as a result of cognitive processing

Psychogalvanometer
– Measures Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)involuntary changes in the electrical
resistance of the skin

Voice pitch analysis
– Measures emotional reactions through
physiological changes in voice
Machine Observing Phenomenon

Traffic counters
– Machines used to measure vehicular flow
over a particular stretch of roadway.

People meter
– A microwave computerized rating system
that transmits demographic information
overnight to measure national TV
audiences.

Scanner based research
– A system for gathering information from a
single group of respondents by
continuously monitoring the advertising,
sales, promotion, and pricing they are
exposed to and the things they buy.