What is observational research?
What is observational research?
Observational research is a research technique where you observe participants and phenomena in their most natural settings. This enables researchers to see their subjects make choices and react to situations in their natural setting, as opposed to structured settings like research labs or focus groups.
What are different kinds of observational research?
Naturalistic observation
With naturalistic observation, observation occurs directly in the environment where the phenomenon occurs. The observations are made as unobtrusively as possible with the researcher not directly interacting with the participants in any way.
Participant observation
With participant observation, researchers actively participate in the study itself. In addition to observing behaviors, a researcher might conduct interviews, take notes, look at documents, and take photographs.
Structured observation
With structured observation, researchers do not observe in the natural setting, but instead in a lab or a simulated environment. A structured observation is meant to observe a specific, limited set of behaviors. This method is less natural, but enables less variables to be at play.
When should I conduct observational research
You should conduct observation behavior when you want to:
See how participants behave in a natural setting
See how real world factors influence behavior
Describe a phenomenon
What are some observational research methods?
Observation methods in research are utilized in many qualitative research methodologies such as thematic analysis and grounded theory. Both methods can involve stages of collecting data through observational methods in natural settings.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of observational research?
Before you consider embarking on the process of observation in research, consider the advantages and disadvantages.
Advantages
When you conduct observational research, you can observe what happens in a natural setting. This allows you to discover insights that you normally couldn’t glean from other research methods like focus groups or surveys. The behaviors that you observe can be more natural and accurate than if you were to observe them in a controlled setting.
Disadvantages
When you do observational research, it can be difficult to control variables since you won’t have control over the environment. Furthermore, it can also be time intensive and expensive to conduct observational studies.
What do I need to consider when conducting observational research?
Get permission
Make sure you have the right permissions in place to conduct your research. This can vary depending on the environment you’re going to and the type of people you’re observing. Make sure to do your homework and obtain all the permissions you need.
Be prepared and have back up plans
A lot can happen during an observational study. Make sure that you’re prepared with back-up plans. Bring extra batteries for your cameras, extra paper for taking notes, and more. Be sure to have a plan for where and when to use the bathroom, and when you’ll eat your meals. It will pay dividends to do good planning ahead of time.
What are the steps of observation?
Determine your research objective.
Understand the objective and goals of your research. Figure out what questions you’re trying to answer, and determine who you’re trying to observe and why. See our article on how to come up with a research objective.
Determine questions and create a research guide
From your research questions, create a research guide that outlines how you’ll approach gathering answers to your questions.
Establish your method of gathering data
Determine whether you will be taking a naturalistic observation or an active participant approach. Decide if you’ll be recording audio or video, taking pictures, and/or taking notes.
Observe
Go into the field and do your observations! Make sure you obtain all necessary permissions ahead of time.
Prepare your data
After the observation, prepare your data for analysis. Get your audio and video recordings transcribed, and start to organize your notes and papers. See our article on how to get audio transcribed.
Analyze behaviors in your data
Dive into the data and make sense of it. Systematically code and organize your data to find themes and patterns. See our articles on qualitative coding to learn more about this step.
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