OBSERVATION AS A TECHNIQUE
• IN A NARROW SENSE OBSERVATION IS A TECHNIQUE USED FOR GATHERING
DATA
• THE OBSERVATION TECHNIQUE COULD BE USED WITH ANY METHOD:
• IN DESCRIPTIVE STUDIES, TAKING DATA FROM NATURALLY OCCURRING
SITUATIONS
• IN AN EXPERIMENT AS A MEASURE OF THE DV
OBSERVATION AS A TECHNIQUE
• CAN BE USED IN AN EXPERIMENT AS A TECHNIQUE TO COUNT HOW MANY TIMES
PEOPLE DO CERTAIN THINGS (E.G. BANDURA’S BOBO DOLL STUDY)
•Observation can also be used in
field experiments. E.g. Uetake,
Hurnik & Johnsom (1997) played
music to cows - on music days
more cows came near the milking
area.
DATA GATHERING DEVICES
•
FILM OR VIDEO RECORDING
•
VISUAL RECORDINGS CAN BE ANAYSED LATER AND IN RESEARCHERS OWN TIME, CAN VIEW
REPEATEDLY TO INCREASE UNDERSTANDING
•
•
•
STILL CAMERA
•
ONE-WAY MIRRORS ARE OFTEN USED IN OBSERVATIONS BUT BEWARE OF ETHICAL ISSUES
AUDIO TAPE (SPOKEN OBSERVATION)
HAND-WRITTEN NOTES, RATINGS OR CODING ON THE SPOT
OBSERVATION DISTINCTIONS
• THERE ARE 6 MAIN DISTINCTIONS OR DIMENSIONS ON WHICH
OBSERVATIONS WILL VARY:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
PARTICIPANT VS NON-PARTICIPANT
DIRECT VS INDIRECT
DISCLOSED VS UNDISCLOSED
TIME SAMPLING VS EVENT SAMPLING
NATURALISTIC SETTING VS CONTROLLED SETTING
STRUCTURED VS UNSTRUCTURED
1. PARTICIPANT VS NONPARTICIPANT
NON-PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
• THE MORE COMMON FORM OF OBSERVATION IS NON-PARTICIPANT WHEREBY
THE OBSERVER DOES NOT INTERACT WITH THE GROUP BEING OBSERVED
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
 IN PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION THE OBSERVER JOINS OR WORKS WITH THE
GROUP OF PEOPLE OBSERVED
 FOR EXAMPLE, IN ROSENHAN’S STUDY (1973) OBSERVERS BECAME
PSEUDOPATIENTS IN A PSYCHIATRIC WARD (DETAINED BETWEEN 7-52 DAYS,
GIVEN 2100 PILLS)
Participant
Advantages
Disadvantages
Behaviour is usually genuine and
natural, unless participants are
aware of researcher’s presence and
aims.
Researcher may have to rely on memory for
data collection
Meanings of participant’s behaviour
are more readily available
Replication often more difficult than in
structured approaches, but this may be
irrelevant
Problem of ‘blowing cover’
Trust and informality give info and
insights unavailable in other methods
(insider information)
Researcher’s interactions with participants
may alter normal relations.
Public checks on data difficult
Researcher may be only witness
Non-participant
More objective
No need to rely on memory
No problems with ‘blowing cover’
Normal relations will not be affected
by researcher interaction
Researcher may not be able to get close
enough to obtained the required information
2. DIRECT VS INDIRECT
DIRECT VS. INDIRECT OBSERVATION
• DIRECT: BEING THERE AND THEN TO OBSERVE FIRST-HAND
• INDIRECT: LOOKING AT DATA WHICH HAS ALREADY BEEN COLLECTED
•
REQUIRES CONTENT ANALYSIS
•
•
•
COULD USE COMMUNICATIONS ALREADY THERE (POLITICAL SPEECHES, TV
ADVERTISEMENTS, REPORTED CONTENTS OF DREAMS, MAGAZINE CONTENTS, ETC.)
COULD ASK PARTICIPANTS TO PRODUCE NEW COMMUNICATIONS (E.G. ESSAYS, ANSWERS
TO INTERVIEW QUESTIONS (TRANSCRIBED), DIARIES, VERBAL PROTOCOLS)
FOR EXAMPLE, DIET WORDS IN MAGAZINES, CONSEQUENCES OF DISOBEDIENCE IN
NURSERY RHYMES, CHARACTER TYPES IN TV ADS
Direct
Advantages
Disadvantages
More realistic to record
things as they happen
Difficult to record everything in
real-time
Less time-consuming
Unable to rewind and review
Requires less equipment and Possible to miss subtle behaviours
logistics
Observer bias may have an impact
Indirect
Can rewind and review
observation as many times
as you want
More chance to pick up on
subtle behaviours and small
details
Cheaper way of gathering
data
Time-consuming
Can require more equipment and
logistics
3. DISCLOSED VS
UNDISCLOSED
DISCLOSED AND UNDISCLOSED
OBSERVATION
• (NB: THE TERMS ‘OVERT’ AND ‘COVERT’ REFER TO THIS SAME DIMENSION)
• IN A DISCLOSED OBSERVATION THE PARTICIPANTS ARE MADE AWARE OF THE
FACT THAT THEY ARE BEING OBSERVED
• IN UNDISCLOSED OBSERVATIONS PARTICIPANTS ARE UNAWARE THAT THEY
ARE BEING OBSERVED
• ONE-WAY MIRRORS ARE OFTEN USED FOR THIS PURPOSE
Disclosed
Advantages
Disadvantages
Avoids ethical issues
associated with undisclosed
observations – consent,
deception
Demand characteristics – if aware
that they are being observed,
participants might try to obtain
clues from observers
Hawthorne Effect – participants’
behaviour might be affected
simply by their knowing that they
are the subject of research study
Undisclosed
Behaviour more likely to be
valid
No demand characteristics
No Hawthorne Effect
Ethical issues
4. TIME SAMPLING VS EVENT
SAMPLING
DATA SAMPLING
• OBSERVING AND RECORDING EVERYTHING A PERSON OR GROUP OF PEOPLE DO
WOULD BE AN ALMOST IMPOSSIBLE TASK, CREATING A VAST AMOUNT OF DATA
AND BEING FAR TOO TIME-CONSUMING
• RESEARCHERS THEREFORE TAKE A SAMPLE OF DATA.
• TIME SAMPLING: OBSERVING ONLY AT THE END OF SPECIFIC INTERVALS, FOR EXAMPLE
ONCE A MINUTE
• EVENT SAMPLING: CONCENTRATING ON SPECIFIC TYPES OF EVENT EACH TIME THEY
OCCUR (FIGHT, SMILE, ETC.)
Time Sampling
Advantages
Disadvantages
Time between
observations to record
data
No data from gaps between
observations therefore
may not be representative
Provides snapshot
Less observations to make
Event Sampling
Easy to tally pre-selected
behaviours
Can miss interesting
events not listed
Useful if behaviour only
happens occasionally
May miss behaviours if too
many happen at once
5. NATURALISTIC VS
CONTROLLED SETTING
CONTROLLED OBSERVATION IN A
LABORATORY
Some variables
(e.g. the toys
available) are
controlled by the
researcher
reducing the
occurrence of
natural behaviour
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
• IN A NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION BEHAVIOUR IS STUDIED IN A NATURAL
SITUATION WHERE EVERYTHING HAS BEEN LEFT AS IT IS NORMALLY
Naturalistic
setting
Advantages
Disadvantages
Reactivity not a problem where participants
unaware of being in research context and, if
so, genuine behaviour produced.
Greater ambiguity from extraneous variables and
unpredictable behaviour gives greater potential for
observer bias than in more structured/laboratory
studies
Even if target is aware of being observed,
natural setting ensures that behaviour
observed is usually more realistic than it
could be in the laboratory.
An important and useful approach where:
Intervention is unethical (children, animals)
Cooperation from targets is unlikely
The full social context for behaviour is
required
Controlled
setting
Extraneous variables poorly controlled and pose
much greater threats to validity than in the laboratory
Difficulty of remaining undiscovered by targets
Replication may be more difficult
Cannot transport and use sophisiticated equipment
used to make quality recordings in the laboratory
Behaviour studied can be more flexible and
continuous
If conducted in an artificial environment, might
seriously distort natural behaviour patterns
If used in an experiment, the cause-effect
relationship less ambiguous than in nonexperimental settings
Participants can guess research aim and can act in a
socially desirable manner
Reactive context
Less intrusion from extraneous variables
6. STRUCTURED VS
UNSTRUCTURED
UNSTRUCTURED OBSERVATION
• RESEARCHER RECORDS ALL RELEVANT BEHAVIOUR BUT HAS NO SYSTEM
• BEHAVIOUR STUDIED IS LARGELY UNPREDICTABLE
STRUCTURED OBSERVATION
• OFTEN QUALITATIVE DATA MADE QUANTITATIVE BY RECORDING
USING A CODING SYSTEM (BEHAVIOUR CHECKLIST)
• RECORD FREQUENCY OF EVENTS, TIME OR USE SCALE; RATE
BEHAVIOUR ACCORDING TO A STRUCTURED SCALE 1-10
• OBSERVERS NEED TO BE TRAINED IN THE USE OF A CODING SYSTEM
AND TO A GOOD LEVEL OF AGREEMENT PRIOR TO MAIN DATAGATHERING SESSIONS (INTER-OBSERVER RELIABILITY)
BEHAVIOR CHECKLIST/CODING
• CAN BE ADOPTED FROM OTHER STUDIES OR MADE UP NEW, BUT SHOULD BE…
1. OBJECTIVE
2.COVER ALL POSSIBLE COMPONENT BEHAVIORS, AVOID WASTE BUCKET
3.HAVE NO OVERLAPPING CATEGORIES
Child
A
B
Hits or shoves other
with forceunprovoked
Hits or shoves
other with forcefollowing peer
Hits or shoves
other with forceretaliation
Shouts at
other –
unprovoked
Shouts at other
-following peer
Shouts at otherretaliation
Structured
Advantages
Disadvantages
Easier to record observed
behaviours
Reduction of behaviour to
artificially isolated units
can provide meaningless
data
Quantitative data recorded
Richness of data can be
lost
Social meaning may not be
taken into account
Unstructured
Produce rich qualitative
data
Allows for study of
unpredictable behaviour
Might only record the most
eye-catching behaviours,
which might actually not
be most relevant or
important
Time-consuming
OTHER TYPES
ROLE PLAY AND SIMULATION
• IN SOME CASES PARTICIPANTS OBSERVE ROLE-PLAYS (NON-ACTIVE ROLE), BUT, BY
AND LARGE, IT IS PARTICIPANTS’ ROLE-PLAYING THAT IS OBSERVED (ACTIVE ROLE).
• ACTIVE ROLE- PARTICIPANT’S ARE ASKED TO ACTIVELY PLAY A ROLE WITHIN A
STIMULATED SOCIAL SETTING (E.G. BEING A PRISONER OR GUARD AT ZIMBARDO’S
(1972) PRISON STUDY)
• NON-ACTIVE ROLE- PARTICIPANTS ARE ASKED TO WATCH A ROLE PLAY AND THEN TO
REPORT FEELINGS, REACTIONS OR SUGGESTIONS. IN THIS CASE STIMULATION SIMPLY
SERVES AS MATERIAL FOR A QUESTION-ASKING METHOD.
• ACTOR & AUDIENCE (STORMS, 1973)
DISADVANTAGES: ROLE PLAY CAN BE NON-SPONTANEOUS AND PASSIVE, ACT IN SOCIALLY
DESIRABLE AND SUPERFICIAL WAYS
DIARY METHOD
• DIARIES ARE KEPT DURING MOST PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION STUDIES (DARWIN,
PIAGET)
• WHERE OBSERVATION IS COVERT, THESE WILL BE CONSTRUCTED AT THE END OF
EACH DAY, FROM MEMORY OR FROM DISCRETELY JOTTED NOTES RECORDED
WHERE OPPORTUNITIES HAVE ARISEN .
• PARTICIPANTS COULD ALSO BE ASKED TO KEEP THEIR OWN DIARIES, WHICH WILL
BE LATER SUBJECTED TO CONTENT ANALYSIS BY THE OBSERVER.
EVALUATION OF OBSERVATION
TECHNIQUE
ADVANTAGES OF OBSERVATION
•
CAN GIVE RICH INFORMATION AND UNEXPECTED RESULTS - SUGGESTING NEW AVENUES FOR
FUTURE RESEARCH
•
•
•
A PICTURE CAN BE PROVIDED OF REAL-LIFE IN A NATURALISTIC SETTING
•
IT CAN ILLUMINATE PROCESSES AND EXAMINE CAUSALITY, SUGGESTING WHY THINGS HAPPEN AS
THEY DO IN CERTAIN SETTINGS
•
•
GIVES ACCESS TO NON-VERBAL CUES AND PHENOMENA NOT AMENABLE TO EXPERIMENTATION
•
CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS CAN BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, CONTINUITIES OVER TIME CAN BE LOOKED
AT
RESEARCHER OFTEN INTRUDES VERY LITTLE INTO SITUATION
THIS METHOD TELLS US NOT ONLY WHAT IS GOING ON BUT ALSO WHO IS INVOLVED, WHEN AND
WHERE THINGS HAPPEN
SITUATIONS NOT REPLICABLE IN LABORATORY CAN BE EXAMINED (WEDDINGS, BEHAVIORS IN
BARS)
DISADVANTAGES OF OBSERVATIONAL
METHOD
• INTERNAL VALIDITY
• RESULTS CAN BE VERY SUBJECTIVE
• REACTIVITY OF THE OBSERVER ON THE SITUATION (DIFFICULT TO STAND BACK
FROM THE PROCESS THAT ONE IS PART OF)
• EXTERNAL VALIDITY
• SAMPLE IS OFTEN UNREPRESENTATIVE
• CULTURAL DIFFERENCES OFTEN NOT TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT
• OFTEN TIME-CONSUMING AND LABOUR-INTENSIVE