Observing Behavior
A nonexperimental approach
QUANTITATIVE AND
QUALITATIVE APPROACHES
Quantitative
Focuses on specific behaviors that can be easily
quantified
Assign numerical values to responses
Large samples
Subject to the data statistical analyses
QUANTITATIVE AND
QUALITATIVE APPROACHES
Qualitative
Observational measures
Focuses on behavior in natural settings
Small groups and limited setting
Describe or capture themes that emerge from
the data
Data are non-numerical and expressed in
language and/or images
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
Field Work or Field Observation
Researchers make observations
in a natural setting
over a period of time
using a variety of techniques
Used to describe and understand how
people in a social or cultural setting live,
work, and experience the setting
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
Description and Interpretation of Data
Techniques include:
- Observing, interviewing, and surveying documents
Goals:
- Describe setting, events, and persons
- Analyze the categories that emerge
- Researcher must interpret what occurred
- Generate hypotheses that help explain the data
- Write a final report of results
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
 Issues in Naturalistic Observation
1. Participation
2. Concealment
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
• Strengths of Naturalistic Observation
• Useful in complex and novel settings
• Limitations of Naturalistic Observation
• Cannot be used to study all issues
• Less useful when studying well-defined hypotheses under
precisely specific conditions
• Must constantly reanalyze and revise hypotheses
SYSTEMATIC OBSERVATION
 Systematic observations: careful observation of
specific behaviors in a particular setting
 Coding Systems
 Methodological Issues
 Equipment
 Reactivity
 Reliability
 Sampling
ARCHIVAL RESEARCH
 Archival research involves using
previously complied information to
answer research questions
1. Statistical Records
2. Survey Archives
3. Written and Mass Communication Records