N O I T A V R E

N O I T A V R E S OB WATCHING

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 • AUDIO TAPE (SPOKEN OBSERVATION) • HAND-WRITTEN NOTES, RATINGS OR CODING ON THE SPOT • ONE-WAY MIRRORS ARE OFTEN USED IN OBSERVATIONS BUT BEWARE OF ETHICAL ISSUES

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 Trust and informality give info and insights unavailable in other methods (insider information) Replication often more difficult than in structured approaches, but this may be irrelevant Problem of ‘blowing cover’ 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 Time-consuming observation as many times as you want Can require more equipment and logistics More chance to pick up on subtle behaviours and small details Cheaper way of gathering data

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 Less intrusion from extraneous variables Reactive context

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 • 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 • 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 • SITUATIONS NOT REPLICABLE IN LABORATORY CAN BE EXAMINED (WEDDINGS, BEHAVIORS IN BARS) • CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS CAN BE TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT, CONTINUITIES OVER TIME CAN BE LOOKED AT

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