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PSY-107
bservational Research
is the process of watching people in
context ² in their natural environment,
doing routine activities.
is a primary method of collecting data by
human, mechanical, electrical or electronic
means. The researcher may or may not
have direct contact or communication with
the people whose behavior is being
recorded.
The data gathered is not More costly.
mediated by the subject. Difficult to do and
Results are not defined by the administer.
design of the method. Time-consuming.
The results are supported by Uses very small study
verifiable evidence. groups.
Research is done in context. Results are more
Uncovers embodied subjective.
knowledge.
Uncovers problems for which
the subjects have developed
workarounds.
Uncovers problems and
behaviors that people didn¶t
know they had.
Õ
The major tool of bservational Research is
videotaping. With bservational Research,
depending on the goals and needs of the study,
researchers can gather anywhere from ten to
hundreds of hours of documented observations.
Researchers then work together to systematically
analyze and interpret the gathered data.
The goal of observational research is to capture
the embodied knowledge ± tacit, nonscientific
knowledge ± the type of findings that cannot be
uncovered in surveys and focus groups. To that
end, researchers can pay attention to minute
details that can often be overlooked.
A Classification of bservation
Methods
Personal bservation
A researcher observes actual behavior as it
occurs.
The observer does not attempt to manipulate the
phenomenon being observed but merely records
what takes place.
For example, a researcher might record traffic
counts and observe traffic flows in a department
store.
Mechanical bservation
Õ
!
± turnstiles that record the number of people
entering or leaving a building.
± n-site cameras (still, motion picture, or video)
Õ
± eye-tracking monitors
± pupilometers
± psychogalvanometers
In
, the respondents
are aware that they are under observation.
Structured versus Unstructured
bservation
For
, the researcher
specifies in detail what is to be observed and
how the measurements are to be recorded, e.g.,
an auditor performing inventory analysis in a
store.
In
, the observer
monitors all aspects of the phenomenon that
seem relevant to the problem at hand, e.g.,
observing children playing with new toys.
atural versus Contrived bservation
involves observing
behavior as it takes places in the environment.
For example, one could observe the behavior of
respondents eating fast food in Burger King.
In
, respondents'
behavior is observed in an artificial environment,
such as a test kitchen.
aturalistic bservation as a field method involves the
following steps: