Observational Techniques

Chapter 11

Introduction
Observational techniques

Methods of collecting data by observing people, most typically in their natural settings

The researcher conducting the observations

may use either participant observation or nonparticipant observation.

Introduction
Participant Observation

Observation performed by observers who take part in the activities they observe

Introduction
Nonparticipant Observation

Observation made by an observer who remain as aloof as possible from those observed

Focal Research
Unmasking Racism: Halloween Costuming

and Engagement of the Racial Other By Jennifer C. Mueller, Danielle Dirks, and Leslie Houts Picca

Participant observation They observed what they themselves and other students did when they dressed as people of different races for Halloween

Focal Research
Ethics

IRB Informed consent forms Confidentiality

Observational Techniques Defined

Observational techniques are sometimes

called qualitative methods and field research Both qualitative methods and field research require more steps than simple observation

Observational Techniques Defined

Controlled (or systematic) observations

Observation that involve clear decisions about what is to be observed

Observing whether or not a person will do a particular action Example

Whether people would or wouldnt contribute coins to a Salvation Army kettle after they had seen, or not seen, another person do so

Reasons for Doing Observations

When are observational techniques

desirable?

Useful when you dont know much about the subject under investigation

Common in anthropology & ethnography a study of culture

When one wants to understand experience from the point of view of those who are living it or from the context in which it is lived.

Reasons for Doing Observations

Observational techniques may help the

researcher move from thin to thick description. Thin Description

Bare-bone description of acts

Reasons for Doing Observations

Thick Description

Reports about behavior that provide a sense of things like the intentions, motives, and meanings behind the behavior

Reasons for Doing Observations

Observational techniques are useful when

you want to study quickly changing social situations.

Example

Hurricane Katrina

Observational techniques offer a relatively

unfiltered view of human behavior.

Observer Roles
Observational techniques are relatively

unobtrusive but the level varies based on the role played by the observers

Observer Roles

Complete participant role

Being, or pretending to be, a genuine participant in a situation one observes

Observer Roles

Participant-as-observer role

Being primarily a participant, while admitting an observer status

Observer Roles

Observer-as-participant

Being primarily a self-professed observer, while occasionally participating in the situation

Observer Roles

Complete observer role

Being an observer of a situation without becoming part of it

Observer Roles
Concern

The participant-as-observer and observer-asparticipant roles are more obtrusive compared to the pure participant or pure observer

Observer Roles
Ethics

There are ethical issues to consider in the observer playing multiple roles, including issues of power, issues of guilty knowledge, and issues of responsibility

Getting Ready for Observations

Observational techniques typically do not require as

much preparation as other methods we have discussed. Design elements are typically worked out as you go. Except during controlled, or systematic, observations, which are defined by their use of explicit plans for selecting, recording, and coding data. Observers typically begin their studies with less clearly defined research questions and considerably more flexible research plans.

Getting Ready for Observations

Selecting a location is typically the first step in observations

Getting Ready for Observations

Next the observer seeks out interviews to get a range of different types of people, the researcher wants to reach theoretical saturation Theoretical saturation

The point where new interviewees or settings look a lot like interviewees or settings one has observed before

Getting Ready for Observations

Observations are most often done in a

nonrandom format Purposive sampling is most common

A nonprobability sampling procedure that involves selecting elements based on the researcher's judgment about which elements will facilitate his or her investigation

Getting Ready for Observations

The researcher needs to decide how much

information one will tell about yourself and your research. Disclosure of your interests (personal and research) can help develop truth in others, but it can also be a distraction from, even a hindrance to the unfolding of, events in the field.

Getting Ready for Observations

Two general recommendations about preparing

yourself for the field Potential observers should review as much literature in advance of their observations as possible literature can sensitize the researchers to the kinds of things they might want to look for in the field and suggest new settings for the study Spend time reviewing earlier examples of participant or nonparticipant observation, to see what others have done.

Getting Ready for Observations

Gaining Access and Ethical Concerns Gaining access to a site is a social task A researcher must use all the social skills or resources and ethical sensibilities she has available If the observer plans not to reveal the intention to observe, the major issues in gaining access are ethical The decision to engage in covert research and thereafter to establish access, is ethically acceptable, if other concerns, such as ensuring lack of harm to those observed and pursuing worthwhile topics in settings that cannot be studied openly, neutralize or overwhelm concern about deception.

Getting Ready for Observations

Gaining Access and Ethical Concerns

Account

A plausible and appealing explanation of the research that the researcher gives to prospective participants

Getting Ready for Observations

Gaining Access and Ethical Concerns

Gatekeeper

Someone who can get a researcher into a setting

Getting Ready for Observations

Gathering the Data

Conventional techniques for recording observations

writing them down recording them mechanically recording them in ones memory to be written down later

Memory is the most common but least trustworthy

Getting Ready for Observations

Gathering the Data

Visual sociology

An approach to studying society and culture that employs images as a data source Techniques used by visual sociologists
1. analyzing visual documents 2. subject-image making 3. photo and video ethnography

Getting Ready for Observations

Gathering the Data

Visual ethnography

The video recording of participants and the reviewing of the resulting footage for insights into social life

Getting Ready for Observations

Gathering the Data

Participants and nonparticpant observers commonly supplement their observations with interviews and available data Interview other participants who are known as informants

Informants typically provide the in-depth understanding of a situation

Analyzing the Data

Studies based on observational techniques are

concerned with theory generation or discovery opposed to theory verification Theory building begins soon after your first observation Once the researcher articulates notions they become concepts or hypothesis, the building block of theory.

Analyzing the Data

The researcher begins to look for similarities and

differences in behavior Similarities can lead to the generalizations on which grounded theory is based.

Grounded Theory

Theory derived from data in the course of a particular study.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Observational Techniques

Advantages

Getting a handle on the relatively unknown Obtaining an understanding of how others experience life Studying behavior Inexpensive Flexibility

Advantages and Disadvantages of Observational Techniques

Disadvantages Generalizability Demand Characteristics A bias caused by the distortion that can occur when people know (or think) they are being observed Extremely time-consuming Demanding and frustrating

Summary
Purposes of observational techniques

To gain relatively unfiltered views of behavior To get a handle on relatively unknown social To obtain a relatively deep understanding of others experience To study quickly changing situations To study behavior, and to save money

Quiz Question 1
Most participant observers practice which type of sampling?
a. b.

c.
d. e.

Simple random Stratified sampling Quota sampling Purposive sampling None of the above

Quiz Question 2
Most qualitative researchers are interested in
a. b.

c.
d. e.

theory verification. causality. spuriousness. theory generation or discovery. None of the above

Quiz Question 3
When the observed take on different attributes simply as a result of being observed, this is called
a. b. c. d. e.

observational methods. demand characteristics. performance anxiety. presentation of self. Both a and c.