Unobtrusive Research

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Chapter 11

• Unobtrusive Research

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Unobtrusive Research

• Researcher not likely to affect the study (data)
• Qualitative or quantitative
• Types include
• Content analysis
• Analysis of existing statistics
• Historical/comparative analysis
• Naturalistic observation (not in book)

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Content analysis

• Examine written documents or oral
  recordings/presentation
• Who said what to whom, why, how, to what effect?
• You determine units of analysis, sample
• Examples newspaper editorials, speeches, poems,
  TV shows, TV or print commercials, movies
• Study virtually anything with content
• Look for themes, similarities, ideologies
• Units of observation may be different from units
  of analysis

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Content Analysis

• Research basics remain
• Variables identified, defined, operationalized
• Careful selection of sampling technique(s)
• Coding
• Transform the raw observational data into a
  standardized form (allows for measurements)
• Manifest content the observable
• Latent content the meaning

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Content Analysis

• Conceptualize and create code categories
• Indicators must be exhaustive and mutually
  exclusive
• Choose the level of measurement for each
• Liberal or conservative? (dichotomous variables)
• Extremely liberal to extremely conservative?
  (ordinal range)
• Keep exhaustive records
• Qualitative and/or quantitative?
• Dont assume causation

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Content Analysis

• Advantages
• Inexpensive
• Safe
• Replicable
• Processes over time analysis
• Unobtrusive
• Disadvantages
• Limited to recorded communications
• Validity and reliability issues
• Time delay

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Analyses of Existing Statistics

• Not the same as secondary analysis
• Analyses of existing statistics is examining the
  statistics collected by others for a new purpose
• Existing statistics are plentiful and easily
  available
• Secondary analysis is examining the raw data
  collected by others for a new purpose
• Raw data is difficult to obtain
• Limited to available data, assumes data are
  accurate

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Historical/Comparative Analysis

• Raw data for observation and analysis are
  historical records
• The reports of historians on your topic of
  interest
• Can also be original data you collect (articles,
  books, advertisements, song lyrics, letters,
  interviews etc.)
• Traces the development of social over time and
  across cultures
• Inaccuracy and bias can cause validity problems
• Analyses are usually qualitative, often affected
  by the researchers paradigms

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Naturalistic observation

• Observing/coding human behavior
• People watching
• Can be structured or unstructured
• You can go in with a plan or not
• Very effective for studying nonverbal
  communication

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Other Unobtrusive Methods

• Physical-Trace Analysis
• Erosion measures
• Tracking the wear on objects
• Wear on floors, stairs, pedals, objects, etc.
• Accretion measures
• Tracking the deposits of people
• Garbage, radio station settings, wear on book
  pages, leftover objects in lockers, etc.
• Physical location analysis
• Proxemics, who stands next to whom, which seat
  does a person take at a table etc.