CSCI 4163/6904, summer 2011
OBSERVATIONS
CONTEXTUAL INQUIRY
Quiz
 Multiple choice
 Answer individually - pass in
 Then class discussion
11. Questionnaires...
a. are a quick and easy way to gather information
b. are only good for collecting qualitative data
c. are only good for collecting quantitative data
d. require thought and careful planning
2.
If you want a high completion rate, you
would administer the questionnaire:
a. in person
b. via (snail) mail
c. via email
d. using a web-based form
3.
3. Before sending out a questionnaire, you
should make sure that:
a. questions are worded clearly
b. the questionnaire can be completed within
the desired amount of time
c. you can analyze the results
d. all of the above
4. Which of the following is not an important
aspect of a successful questionnaire?
a. include only closed questions
b. know what statistics you are going to run in
advance
c. do a pilot questionnaire
d. include only understandable, clear questions
5. Interviews are:
a) Verbally asking participants questions
b) Hearing their point of view in their own
words
c) Both A & B
d) Neither A nor B
6. Which type of interview
allows you to probe
participants’ responses?
A) Structured
B) Unstructured
C) Semi-Structured
D) Unstructured and Semi-Structured
7. Which type of interview
allows you to quantitatively
compare responses?
A) Structured
B) Unstructured
C) Semi-Structured
D) Unstructured and Semi-Structured
8. Active listening is…
A) Making a conscious effort to hear the words
a person is saying
B) Making an effort to understand the
complete message being sent
C) Paying attention to the other person very
carefully
D) All of the above
Exercise
 Research topic: Rituals of on-line information
seeking behaviour
 Questions: What types of information sources
are regularly checked? Is it a push or pull
paradigm? What is the frequency? What
prompts a session to begin? How long does a
session usually last? What brings a session to
an end (time? Information found? All sources
seen?)? Is there multi-tasking?
Observation
 Watching people, programs, events,
communities, etc.
 Used to:
 Provide information about real-life situations and
circumstances
 Assess what is happening
 Valuable because you cannot rely on
participants’ willingness and ability to furnish
information
When is observation useful?
 When you want direct information
 When you are trying to understand an
ongoing behaviour or process
 When there is physical evidence, products, or
outcomes that can be readily seen
 When other data collection methods seem
inappropriate
Observations
Advantages
Disadvantages
 Most direct measure of
 May require training

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behavior
Provides direct information
Easy to complete
Saves time (?)
Can be used in natural or
experimental settings
 Observer’s presence may
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
create artificial situation
Potential for bias
Potential to overlook
meaningful aspects
Potential for
misinterpretation
Difficult to analyze
(If unobtrusive…)
 Can see things in their natural context
 Can see things that may escape conscious
awareness, things that are not seen by others
 Can discover things that may have been
taken for granted
 Can learn about things that people might not
be willing to talk about
 Low potential for generating observer effects
Major limitations
 Potential for bias
 Observer bias
 Cultural bias (during observation and
interpretation)
 Reliability
 Ease of categorization
 Often used in combination with other
methods to provide a more thorough account
Types of observation
Structured
(looking for)
Unstructured
(looking at)
Observing what does not happen may be as important
as observing what does happen
Planning
 Determine who/what to observe
 Determine what aspects will be observed

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(characteristics, attributes, behaviours, etc.)
Determine when/where observations will be
made
Develop the observation record sheet
Pilot test the observation record sheet
Train the observers, practice
Collect information, analyze and interpret
Observations need to be
credible
 Observation guide
 Recording sheet
 Checklist
 Field notes
 Pictures
 Video
 Some combination of the above
Ecological validity
 Is what you are observing representative of

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usual behaviours?
Unobtrusive?
Task?
Setting?
Tools?
If unobtrusive…
 Can be hard to understand why….
Contextual inquiry
 Interviewees are interviewed in their context,
when doing their tasks, with as little
interference from the interviewer as possible.
 Allows probing of “why?”
 Can be real-time or record interesting actions
for later discussion
“Typical” 4 phased approach
 Traditional interview
 Get an overview, establish trust, start recording
 Switch to a master-apprentice relationship
 Tell them what you want to observe
 Make sure to establish when ok to interrupt
 Observe, ask questions
 Take notes
 Balance need to understand with impact of
interruptions
 Summarization
 Go over observations and your understanding with
participant
 Make sure that you go it right
Other ways of providing
context
 If natural observation not possible, can ask
them to demonstrate specific tasks of
interest
 Can provide task scenarios and ask them to
perform
 “Think aloud” aloud protocols
Other ways of getting
observational data
 Logging
 Screen recording (check out Camtasia)
 Trace data
Homework
 Advertising Diary exericise for Thurs
 Assigned reading w/ questions for Thurs
 Read McGrath’s Methodology Matters
(submit questions) for Tues