Abstract
Observation, particularly participant observation, has been used in a variety of majors as a tool
for collecting data about people, processes, and cultures in qualitative research. This paper provides a
look at various definitions of participant observation, the purposes for which it is used, and when, what,
and how to observe. Information on keeping field notes and writing them up is also discussed, along
with some exercises for teaching observation techniques to researchers-in-training.
Introduction
Observation are useful to researchers in a variety of ways. They provide researchers with ways
to check for nonverbal expression of feelings, determine who interacts with whom, grasp how
participants communicate with each other, and check for how much time is spent on various activities.
Participant observation allows researchers to check definitions of terms that participants use in
interviews, observe events that informants may be unable or unwilling to share when doing so would
be impolitic, impolite, or insensitive, and observe situations informants have described in interviews,
thereby making them aware of distortions or inaccuracies in description provided by those informants
So,the goal for using participant observation as a method is to develop a holistic understanding
of the phenomena under study that is as objective and accurate as possible given the limitations of the
method. They suggest that participant observation be used as a way to increase the validity of the study,
as observations may help the researcher have a better understanding of the context and phenomenon
under study.
Definition:
It is watching other persons’ behaviour as it actually happens without controlling it.
Purpose of observation:
The major purposes of observation as described by Black and Champion are as under:
1. To capture human conduct as it actually happens. In other methods, we get a static comprehension of
people’s activity. In actual situation, they sometimes modify their views, sometimes contradict
themselves, and sometimes are so swayed away by the situation that they react differently altogether.
Ex: Tone of voice, facial expressions and content of slogans by the demonstrators.
2. To provide more graphic description of social life than can be acquired in other ways. Example: The
graphic details of behaviour of women when they are physically assaulted by their husbands can only
be got by observation method.
3. To explore important events and situations. By being present on the scene, issues that might
otherwise be overlooked are examined more carefully. Example: Visiting office soon after the office
hours and finding that the married men and single women are working overtime whereas single men
and married women had gone home.
4. It can be used as a tool of collecting information in situations where methods other than
observation cannot prove to be useful. Example: Workers’ behaviour during a strike.
What are the advantages of observation?
- Collect data where and when an event or activity is occurring.
- Does not rely on people’s willingness or ability to provide information.
- Allows you to directly see what people do rather than relying on what people say they did.
What are the disadvantages of observation?
- Susceptible to observer bias.
- Susceptible to the “hawthorne effect,” that is, people usually perform better when they know they are
being observed, although indirect observation may decrease this problem.
- Can be expensive and time-consuming compared to other data collection methods
- Does not increase your understanding of why people behave as they do.
USING OBSERVATIONAL METHODS
There are two approaches to collecting primary data through the use of observational methods. The
first is structured observation, in which the researcher simply observes and records behaviour. The
second is participant observation, in which the researcher actually takes part in the behaviour being
studied.
STRUCTURED OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES
We are all familiar with the old-fashioned work study practitioners who, with their clipboards,
stopwatches, pens and pads stood and observed people working. They were using structured
observational methods, which are quantitative. They may have wanted to know how many times a
person carried out a cycle of work activity within a particular period of time; and if a different method
of working would improve productivity.
Unlike the data gathered from an interview, this kind of observation records irrefutable facts about
people’s behaviour. However, structured observation is quite a ‘cold’ exercise in that it tells us little
about the subject’s emotions – their reactions to what they have to do and their thoughts and feelings
about it. Those being observed are usually aware of what you are doing and, for ethical reasons, they
should be told anyway. Exceptionally, when there is no alternative and when the observation subject is
sufficiently important to justify it, covert observation takes place. Obviously, this raises ethical issues.
Researchers do not normally set out to deceive people. On the other hand, the transparency of the
observation creates a dilemma because in certain circumstances the probability of collecting accurate
data is reduced markedly since those being observed seldom behave in the way they would normally.
Undoubtedly, behaviour departs from the norm when people are aware that they are being watched; this
is a phenomenon that was observed during the Hawthorne studies in Chicago in the 1920s. Another
form of deception takes place when as part of an ostensibly overt observation exercise, such as
participant observation (see below), the behaviour that is being observed by the researcher may be
outside the limits of his or her stated intentions.
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES
By nature, participant observation is qualitative. As a generalisation, it is safe that say that
everyone is a participant observer. If you are a member of a group such as a sports club or a
political party, you are in a good position to observe the values, motives and behaviour of your
fellow members and to share with them the experience of being a member. All of these are
characteristic features of formal participant observation in which you gather such information about
those within the group. In the formal research situation, however, you become fully involved with
them and their activities, and they usually know why you are there.
It is important to understand that the situations being described here are natural settings in which you
are unable to exercise any control over the variables. This is not meant to imply that you would wish to
exercise control over the variables, because the whole point of participant observation is to observe
people in their natural settings. A natural setting as opposed to a laboratory setting is ‘a research
environment that would have existed had researchers never studied it’ (Vogt 1993: 150).
Some writers say that because you cannot control the variables in a natural setting, you may observe
the behaviour in a second, or even a third, natural setting and then draw comparisons. This, however,
assumes that the environment, which plays a significant role in determining people’s behaviour, is the
same in all settings. In fact, there is no such thing as identical settings, since the people in them are
different and so will be their behaviour, which means that you would not be comparing like with like.
One approach to solving this problem may be to use two observers concurrently in the same setting,
which has the additional benefit of reducing the chance of something being missed or misinterpreted.
PROBLEMS WITH OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES
Two problems associated with observational techniques are response bias and observer bias. Response
bias occurs when someone who knows that he or she is under observation behaves in ways that are
designed to provide the researcher with information that the person observed thinks the observer seeks
(in an effort to ‘help’ science). If this goes undetected, it may contaminate the data.
Observer bias occurs when two observers place different interpretation on some item of behaviour.
Obviously, no two interpretations are ever exactly the same, but when they are markedly different, we
have to either reach a compromise about the meaning of the behaviour, or simply agree to differ. It
could, of course, be behaviour that is normally repeated, in which case both observers could be on hand
to observe it concurrently and then reach an agreement.
While observational methods are used less frequently than surveys and interviews, they are always
worth considering for your total research strategy, depending, of course, on the nature of what you are
researching. It is worth repeating that the reliability and validity of data is increased by the evidential
corroboration and cross-checking that the use of more than one method of data collection provides.