Observational Techniques

Test yourself on Observational Techniques

After reading these notes, test your knowledge with free interactive questions on Seneca — used by over 10 million students.

Observational Research

Observational research uses just a few individuals to base research on. This provides researchers with great insight into a few cases, but this can also cause difficulties.

Observational research

In observational research, scientists conduct a clinical or case study where they focus on one person or just a few individuals.
Some scientists spend their careers studying just 10–20 individuals.
Obviously, when they focus their attention on a very small number of people, they can gain a large amount of insight into those cases.
This allows the researcher to have a very deep understanding of the individuals and the particular phenomenon being studied. The data they collect is very rich.

Limitations of observational research

The major benefit of this particular approach is also a weakness.
Observational research is often used when studying individuals who are interesting to researchers because they have a rare characteristic.
As a result, the focuses of the study are not like most other people.
If scientists ultimately want to explain all behaviour, focusing attention on such a special group of people can make it difficult to generalise any observations to the larger population as a whole.

Limitations of observation research cont.

Case studies do provide enormous amounts of information. But since the cases are so specific, the potential to apply what’s learned to the average person may be very limited.

Naturalistic Observation

Naturalistic observation involves researchers observing behaviour in its natural environment. The researchers must be completely inconspicuous and unobtrusive.

Naturalistic research

One of the best ways to gain information is to simply observe the behaviour in its natural context.
But people might change their behaviour in unexpected ways if they know they are being observed.
So, for a researcher to get accurate information, a researcher must be unobtrusive and inconspicuous.
This type of observational study is called naturalistic observation: observing behaviour in its natural setting.

Animal research

Naturalistic observation is not limited to research involving humans.
Some of the best-known examples of naturalistic observation involve researchers going into the field to observe various kinds of animals in their own environments.
As with human studies, the researchers maintain their distance and avoid interfering with the animal subjects so as not to influence their natural behaviours.
Scientists have used this technique to study social hierarchies and interactions among animals ranging from ground squirrels to gorillas.

Advantages of naturalistic observation

The greatest benefit of naturalistic observation is the validity, or accuracy, of information collected unobtrusively in a natural setting.
Because individuals behave as they normally would in a given situation, we have a higher degree of ecological validity, or realism, than we might get with other research approaches.
This enhances our ability to generalise the findings of the research to real-world situations.
If done correctly, we don't need to worry about people or animals changing their behaviour simply because they are being observed.

Disadvantages of naturalistic observation

The major downside of naturalistic observation is that it is often difficult to set up and control.
As a researcher, you have no control over when (or if) you have behaviour to observe.
This type of observational research often requires significant investments of time, money, and a good dose of luck.

Structured observation

Sometimes studies involve structured observation.
In these cases, people are observed while engaging in set, specific tasks.

Participant and Non-Participant Observation

Participant observation is where a researcher joins in with a situation being observed. In a non-participant observation, the researcher watches from a distance and does not engage.

Non-participant observation

An observation is a non-experimental research method. It involves watching everyday behaviour as it happens.
Typically, an observer will watch interactions from a distance or on video, taking notes using an observation schedule. This is called a non-participant observation.

Ethics

For ethical reasons, people must be told that they are being observed.
But disclosing this can alter their behaviour - an issue known as the observer effect.

Participant observation

Sometimes, it may be necessary for a researcher to join in with a social situation to be able to observe it effectively without biasing the findings.
This is called a participant observation.

Participant observation examples

Two classic examples of participant are Rosenhan’s (1973) observation of a psychiatric ward, and Festinger’s (1956) observation of a religious cult.
In both of these situations, it would have been hard for an outside observer to watch authentic behaviour.

Limitations

Participant observation also has its limitations - the presence of the researcher may make people suspicious or otherwise change their behaviour, meaning that the researcher does not see authentic behaviour.
It is also unethical for observers to assume a fake identity to observe behaviour.