Observation

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Observation

• What you see is what you get

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Observation Research Defined
Observation research can be defined as the
systematic process of recording the behavioral
patterns of people, objects, and occurrences
without questioning or communicating with them.
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Observational Situations
Situation Example
People watching people Observers stationed in
supermarkets watch consumers select frozen
Mexican dinners. The purpose is to see how
much comparison shopping people do at the
point of purchase. People watching Observer
stationed at an intersection counts phenomena
traffic moving in various directions. Machines
watching Move or videotape cameras record
behavior people as in people-watching-people
example. Machines watching Traffic-counting
machines monitor traffic phenomena flow.
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What can be observed

• Human behaviour and physical actions
• Verbal behaviour
• Expressive behaviour
• Spatial relations and locations
• Temporal patterns
• Physical objects
• Verbal or pictorial records

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WHAT CAN BE OBSERVED
Phenomena Example
Human behavior or physical Shoppers
movement action pattern in a store Verbal
behavior Statements made by airline
travelers who wait in line Expressive
behavior Facial expressions, tone of
voice, and other form of body language
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WHAT CAN BE OBSERVED
Phenomena Example
Spatial relations How close visitors at an and
locations art museum stand to
paintings Temporal patterns How long fast-food
customers wait for their order to be
served Physical objects What brand name items
are stored in consumers pantries Verbal
and Pictorial Bar codes on product
packages Records
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Approaches

• Natural versus contrived situations.
• Visible/open versus disguised/hidden situations.
• Structured versus unstructured observation.
• Human versus machine observation.
• Direct versus indirect observation.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of Observation
Research

• Advantages
• Observation research provides the researcher the
  opportunity to watch what people actually do
  rather than relying on reports of what they say
  they do.
• This approach can avoid much of the biasing
  factors caused by the interviewer and question
  structure associated with the survey approach.

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• Communication with respondent is not necessary
• Data without distortions due to self-report
  (e.g. without social
  desirability)
• Bias
• No need to rely on respondents memory
• Nonverbal behavior data may be obtained
• Certain data may be obtained more quickly
• Environmental conditions may be recorded
• May be combined with other methods to provide
  supplemental evidence

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Disadvantages

• Only behavior and physical personal
  characteristics can usually be examined. The
  researcher does not learn about motives,
  attitudes, intentions, or feelings.
• Observation research can be time consuming and
  costly if the observed behavior occurs rather
  infrequently.
• Interpretation of data may be a problem
• Possible invasion of privacy

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Who sees what where
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Humans observing Humans

• Mystery Shoppers
• People employed to pose as consumers and shop at
  the employers competitors to compare prices,
  displays, and the like.
• One-Way Mirror Observations
• The practice of watching unseen from behind a
  one-way mirror.

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• Shopper Patterns
• Drawings that record the footsteps of a shopper
  through a store.
• Response latency
• Recording the decision time necessary to make a
  choice between two alternatives.
• Test sites

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Humans observing Physical Objects

• Content Analysis
• A technique used to study written material
  (advertising copy, newspapers, minutes) by
  breaking it into meaningful units, using
  carefully applied rules.
• Physical trace evidence
• Study of visible signs of past event/occurrence.
• garbology

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• Physical Audit
• The examination and verification of the sales of
  a product.
• Pantry audits

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Machine Observing People

• Electroencephalogram (EEG)
• A machine that measures the rhythmic fluctuations
  in electrical potential of the brain and can be
  used to measure an individuals emotional
  response to a stimulus.
• Eye tracking monitors
• Record how subject reads or views phenomenon

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• Pupilometer
• Observes and records changes in the diameter of
  subjects pupils which changes as a result of
  cognitive processing
• Psychogalvanometer
• Measures Galvanic Skin Response (GSR)-
  involuntary changes in the electrical resistance
  of the skin
• Voice pitch analysis
• Measures emotional reactions through
  physiological changes in voice

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Machine Observing Phenomenon

• Traffic counters
• Machines used to measure vehicular flow over a
  particular stretch of roadway.
• People meter
• A microwave computerized rating system that
  transmits demographic information overnight to
  measure national TV audiences.

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• Scanner based research
• A system for gathering information from a single
  group of respondents by continuously monitoring
  the advertising, sales, promotion, and pricing
  they are exposed to and the things they buy.