Observational Research – Customer Insights

Contrived observation occurs in an artificial environment, such as a lab setting. For example, researchers may wish to measure people's physiological ... Skiptocontent Thischapterderivedfrom6.5ObservationalResearchbyPaulC.Price,RajivJhangiani,I-ChantA.Chiang,DanaC.Leighton,&CarrieCuttler islicensedundera CreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense. [1] Bytheendofthischapter,studentsmustbeableto: Explaindifferenttypesofobservationalresearchmethods Chooseanappropriatetypeofmethodforaparticularsituation   WHATISOBSERVATIONALRESEARCH? Theterm observationalresearchisusedtorefertoseveraldifferenttypesofnon-experimentalstudiesinwhichbehaviorissystematicallyobservedandrecorded.Thegoalofobservationalresearchistodescribeavariableorsetofvariables.Moregenerally,thegoalistoobtainasnapshotofspecificcharacteristicsofanindividual,group,orsetting.Asdescribedpreviously,observationalresearchisnon-experimentalbecausenothingismanipulatedorcontrolled,andassuch,wecannotarriveatcausalconclusionsusingthisapproach.Thedatathatiscollectedinobservationalresearchstudiesareoftenqualitativeinnaturebuttheymayalsobequantitativeorboth(mixed-methods).Thereareseveraldifferenttypesofobservationalresearchdesignsthatwillbedescribedbelow.   NATURALISTIC VSCONTRIVEDOBSERVATION Naturalistic observation isanobservationalmethodthatinvolvesobservingpeople’sbehaviorintheenvironmentinwhichittypicallyoccurs.Thusnaturalisticobservationisatypeoffieldresearch(asopposedtoatypeoflaboratoryresearch).JaneGoodall’sfamousresearchonchimpanzeesisaclassicexampleofnaturalisticobservation. Dr.GoodallspentthreedecadesobservingchimpanzeesintheirnaturalenvironmentinEastAfrica.Sheexaminedsuchthingsaschimpanzees’socialstructure,matingpatterns,genderroles,familystructure,andcareofoffspringbyobservingtheminthewild.However,naturalisticobservation couldmoresimplyinvolveobservingshoppersinagrocerystore,childrenonaschoolplayground,orpsychiatricinpatientsintheirwards.Researchersengagedinnaturalisticobservationusuallymaketheirobservationsasunobtrusivelyaspossiblesothatparticipantsarenotawarethattheyarebeingstudied.Suchanapproachiscalled disguisednaturalisticobservation. Ethically,thismethodisconsideredtobeacceptableiftheparticipantsremainanonymousandthebehavioroccursinapublicsettingwherepeoplewouldnotnormallyhaveanexpectationofprivacy.Groceryshoppersputtingitemsintotheirshoppingcarts,forexample,areengagedinpublicbehaviorthatiseasilyobservablebystoreemployeesandothershoppers.Forthisreason,mostresearcherswouldconsideritethicallyacceptabletoobservethemforastudy.Ontheotherhand,oneoftheargumentsagainsttheethicalityofthenaturalisticobservationof“bathroombehavior”isthatpeoplehaveareasonableexpectationofprivacyeveninapublicrestroomandthatthisexpectationwasviolated.  Contrivedobservationoccursinanartificialenvironment,suchasalabsetting.Forexample,researchersmaywishtomeasurepeople’sphysiologicalresponsestoanadthatisbeingscreenedintheuniversityresearcher’sclassroom.   Source:DWNews.[2]   DISGUISEDVSUNDISGUISEDOBSERVATION Incaseswhereitisnotethicalorpracticaltoconductdisguisednaturalisticobservation,researcherscanconduct undisguisednaturalisticobservationwheretheparticipantsaremadeawareoftheresearcher’spresenceandmonitoringoftheirbehavior.However,oneconcernwithundisguisednaturalisticobservationis reactivity. Reactivity referstowhenameasurechangesparticipants’behavior.Inthecaseofundisguisednaturalisticobservation,theconcernwithreactivityisthatwhenpeopleknowtheyarebeingobservedandstudied,theymayactdifferentlythantheynormallywould.Forinstance,youmayactmuchdifferentlyinabarifyouknowthatsomeoneisobservingyouandrecordingyourbehaviorsandthiswouldinvalidatethestudy.Sodisguisedobservationislessreactiveandthereforecanhavehighervaliditybecausepeoplearenotawarethattheirbehaviorsarebeingobservedandrecorded.However,wenowknowthatpeopleoftenbecomeusedtobeingobservedandwithtimetheybegintobehavenaturallyintheresearcher’spresence.Inotherwords,overtimepeoplehabituatetobeingobserved.ThinkaboutrealityshowslikeBigBrotherorSurvivorwherepeopleareconstantlybeingobservedandrecorded.Whiletheymaybeontheirbestbehavioratfirst,inafairlyshortamountoftimetheyare,flirting,havingsex,wearingnexttonothing,screamingateachother,andattimesactinglikecompletefoolsinfrontoftheentirenation.   PARTICIPANTVSMECHANICALOBSERVATION Anotherapproachtodatacollectioninobservationalresearchisparticipantobservation.In participant observation,researchersbecomeactiveparticipantsinthegrouporsituationtheyarestudying.Participantobservationisverysimilartonaturalisticobservationinthatitinvolvesobservingpeople’sbehaviorintheenvironmentinwhichittypicallyoccurs.Aswithnaturalisticobservation,thedatathatiscollectedcanincludeinterviews(usuallyunstructured),notesbasedontheirobservationsandinteractions,documents,photographs,andotherartifacts.Theonlydifferencebetweennaturalisticobservationandparticipantobservationisthatresearchersengagedinparticipantobservationbecomeactivemembersofthegrouporsituationstheyarestudying.Thebasicrationaleforparticipantobservationisthattheremaybeimportantinformationthatisonlyaccessibletoorcanbeinterpretedonlyby,someonewhoisanactiveparticipantinthegrouporsituation.Likenaturalisticobservation,participantobservationcanbeeitherdisguisedorundisguised.Indisguisedparticipantobservation, theresearcherspretendtobemembersofthesocialgrouptheyareobservingandconcealtheirtrueidentityasresearchers.Incontrastwith undisguisedparticipantobservation, theresearchersbecomeapartofthegrouptheyarestudyingandtheydisclosetheirtrueidentityasresearcherstothegroupunderinvestigation.Onceagainthereareimportantethicalissuestoconsiderwithdisguisedparticipantobservation. First,noinformedconsentcanbeobtainedandsecondpassivedeceptionisbeingused.Theresearcherispassivelydeceivingtheparticipantsbyintentionallywithholdinginformationabouttheirmotivationsforbeingapartofthesocialgrouptheyarestudying.Butsometimesdisguisedparticipationistheonlywaytoaccessaprotectivegroup(likeacult).Further,disguisedparticipantobservationislesspronetoreactivitythanundisguisedparticipantobservation.  Oneoftheprimarybenefitsofparticipantobservationisthattheresearcherisinamuchbetterpositiontounderstandtheviewpointandexperiencesofthepeopletheyarestudyingwhentheyareapartofthesocialgroup.Theprimarylimitationwiththisapproachisthatthemerepresenceoftheobservercouldaffectthebehaviorofthepeoplebeingobserved.Whilethisisalsoaconcernwithnaturalisticobservationwhenresearchersbecauseactivemembersofthesocialgrouptheyarestudying,additionalconcernsarisethattheymaychangethesocialdynamicsand/orinfluencethebehaviorofthepeopletheyarestudying.Similarly,iftheresearcheractsasaparticipant-observertherecanbeconcernswithbiasesresultingfromdevelopingrelationshipswiththeparticipants.Concretely,theresearchermaybecomelessobjectiveresultinginmoreexperimenterbias.   Exhibit1:Differenttypesofequipmentareusedtostudyphysiological/neurologicalresponsesinhumans. Eye-trackingequipment Neuromorphiccamera/sensorequipment Eye-trackingequipment,Neuromorphiccamera/sensorequipment ©2022 WesternSydneyUniversitytakenby SallyTsoutasWesternSydneyUniversityPhotographer islicensedunderan Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives4.0International Inmanysituations,themeansofobservationaremechanicalratherthanhuman.Thisinvolvesvideocameras,trafficcounters,checkoutscanners,smartphones,andarangeofdevicesthatmeasurephysiologicalresponses.Thesedevicesincludeeye-trackingmonitors,pupilometers,psychogalvanometers,voicepitchanalyzers,andinstrumentstomeasureneurologicalsignals. STRUCTUREDVSUNSTRUCTUREDOBSERVATION Instructuredobservation,theemphasisisongatheringquantitativeratherthanqualitativedata.Researchersusingthisapproachareinterestedinalimitedsetofbehaviors.Thisallowsthemtoquantifythebehaviorstheyareobserving.Inotherwords,structuredobservationislessglobalthannaturalisticandparticipantobservationbecausetheresearcherengagedinstructuredobservationsisinterestedinasmallnumberofspecificbehaviors.Therefore,ratherthanrecordingeverythingthathappens,theresearcheronlyfocusesonveryspecificbehaviorsofinterest.Forexample,amarketermaybeinterestedinthenumberofpeopleenteringamall,orthenumberoftimespeoplestoptotakealookatadisplayedad.Unstructuredobservation,ontheotherhand,isflexibleandmoreinformal.Thereisnochecklistfortheresearchertofollow.Theresearchermayobserveallaspectsofaphenomenonandthenprovidesdetailsaboutthingsthathe/shefoundtoberelevantinunderstandingasituation.Thistechniquecanbemoresubjectivethanthestructuredapproach. Whentheobservationsrequireajudgmentonthepartoftheobservers(e.g.,docustomerslookhappywhileshoppinginastore?)thisprocessisoftendescribedascoding.Codinggenerallyrequiresclearlydefiningasetoftargetbehaviors.Theobserversthencategorizeparticipantsindividuallyintermsofwhichbehaviortheyhaveengagedinandthenumberoftimestheyengagedineachbehavior.Theobserversmightevenrecordthedurationofeachbehavior.Thetargetbehaviorsmustbedefinedinsuchawaythatdifferentobserverscodetheminthesameway.Inonestudy,forexample,researchersvideo-recordedasubsetoftheirparticipants’reactionsandhadtwoobserversindependentlycodethem.Thetwoobserversshowedthattheyagreedonthereactionsthatwereexhibited97%ofthetime,indicatinggoodinterraterreliability.   Oneoftheprimarybenefitsofstructuredobservationisthatitisfarmoreefficientthannaturalisticandparticipantobservation.Sincetheresearchersarefocusedonspecificbehaviorsthisreducestimeandexpense.Also,oftentimestheenvironmentisstructuredtoencouragethebehaviorsofinterestwhichagainmeansthatresearchersdonothavetoinvestasmuchtimeinwaitingforthebehaviorsofinteresttonaturallyoccur.Finally,researchersusingthisapproachcanclearlyexertgreatercontrolovertheenvironment.However,whenresearchersexertmorecontrolovertheenvironmentitmaymaketheenvironmentlessnaturalwhichdecreasesexternalvalidity.Itislessclearforinstancewhetherstructuredobservationsmadeinalaboratoryenvironmentwillgeneralizetoareal-worldenvironment.Furthermore,sinceresearchersengagedinstructuredobservationareoftennotdisguisedtheremaybemoreconcernswithreactivity. OBSERVATIONOFPHYSICALEVIDENCE Marketresearchersareabletogatherdatabyobservingphysicalevidencewhichcanprovidekeyinsights.Artefacts–suchasfoodcansingarbagebinsandcountingofphysicalinventoriesarekeymethodsthatcanbeused.Contentanalysisofads,newspapers,images,ormemoscanhelpresearchersunderstandcertainaspectsofaphenomenon.       Price,PC,Jhangiani,RChiang,ICA,Leighton,DC&Cuttler,C2017,'Observationalresearch'inResearchmethodsinpsychology,Pressbooks,chapter6.5,viewed2March2022,.↵DWNews2013,Marketresearchersobservewherewelook:madeinGermany,onlinevideo,4September,viewed3March2022,.↵ Previous/nextnavigation Previous:FocusGroups Next:MeasuresorTypesofVariables Backtotop License CustomerInsightsbyAilaKhanislicensedunderaCreativeCommonsAttribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike4.0InternationalLicense,exceptwhereotherwisenoted. ShareThisBook ShareonTwitter