INQUIRY BY DESIGN: TOOLS FOR ENVIRONMENT-BEHAVIOR RESEARCH JOHN ZEISEL Harvard Univers CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS Canbridge ‘New York New Rockelle Melbourne SydeyChapter 7 OBSERVING PHYSICAL TRACES Observing physical traces means systematically looking at phys sur- rouodigs to find reflections of previous activity nt preduced inorder to be measured by researchers. Traces may have been uncorsibasl let behind (or ‘example, paths across a il), oF they maybe concious changes people have ‘mad in thir surroundings (for example, acura hangover an open doorway new wall bull) From suck wacs exvronment-bchaviorrescarchers bei 10 infer how an envionment go tbe the way ts, wha ecsions it designs an builders made abou the place, bow people actly we thw they fel toward ‘heir suroudings, and peneraly how tht parca envionment mets the reeds fits ser. Researchers alo begin to form an dea of wht people ae ike ‘so es that place—ther cle, heir afiiations, the way they presen them shes “Most people see only small numberof cues in their physical surround ngs ty use only afew races to ead what the enviromeat fas oe tem. bseving physical traces systematically isa elreshing method bees, though fine tuning it tues ara skill fa esearch ol, ‘A simple yet stking example of the are of thie method is Sommer's bsraton of frit placement in amentlosptal ward and corridor (1963) bn the moming ater cistodans hal nestened up and before visors ave, Sonne found chairs arranged side-by-side in rows against the walls Each day, ‘evel hours Inter, he fund that patents elaives ad frends had Ket the same is grouped face-to-face in aller laters, Among te inferences this et of ysialae observations prompled Sommer to make was that estodians ath {ade toward peatess and their beliefs tat furniture ought tobe aang for ficient leaning and food service wer incongrient wth patent behavior sed teed ‘To test these ideas, he rearanged the furniture in the ward, expecting tet otake advantage ofthe increased opportunites for wc. Por the fit few weeks, he was surprised 1 fin, patents and ures retued cas to "ei aginst -wall postions according t them, the new way "wasn’t the way ngs belonged.” Eventaly Sommer pt techs around tales in he mile ‘the room, andon the ables e put Dower aod magazines, When this tesboldso CHAPTER? of enviromental change us reached, changes in behavior ook pleat well tients began gret each eter more to cnverse ore, adored moe nd Staff members begun a crafts program onthe bles in the ward, And tall bean ‘wien Sommer noticed a difereace between how custodian let chs inthe ‘morning nd how patents and itor lftthem athe end ofthe dy. The following discussion presents (1) significant qualities that observing plysial aces has for use ia EB research, (2) types of dvies fr vesting ‘observed ces, and (3) a clasifaton of trace types to make visible thse ‘eats betwen people and environment that are useful for designs, bering Physic Tses nalties of he Mehod Imagesie active Dente Ey Recording Dees Drawings Poors Connie Wheto ook for Brpotcuotue Adapts ose Dayo et Plc essges QUALITIES OF THE METHOD Observing traces isan exceptionally useful research tool hat can produce ‘valuable insight the begining of projet, texthypoers in the idl, and bea sure of dea and new concepszoughout I ou tae into acount what ‘he method can and cannot do, you can achieve the resus you wast ike ay too if wed inappropriately itcan be destructive. The method canbe a source of Provocative images s unobusive, i sty to use, and deals with lng lasting Btenamen, It provides opportinites for iverigaors but also sts up some ps, (OBSERVING PHYSICAL TRACES 91 Imageable ‘Observing physical uaces provides rich impression and is highly ies tive. Walking through 2 home fr alder veterans in Oxford, New York invest ators saw, for example, wheelchairs in od places, od fete, new medial ‘sumer, directo sigs, people i uniforms, open cans of food on window sil and pater’ ge-vel ears taped to walls in rooms (Snyder & Onande, 1974). The walk gave researches an ntl picture of what fein that home was ‘ike its design sucess, some problems, exceptional situations, patred wear ander. Atte beginning oa esearch project sich cbervatns canbe vedo ‘park investigators to think abou what the chsered objets ight mee Skill chservers wll notice even commonplace physical aces and figure out which of ‘hem wll ad to fifa infreces to purse farther. At Oxf, nvesiatrs focuted thet ateaion on cane of food on windowsl—developig fom this infomation a cena esearch hypothesis that residents veda 24 hour life-sle ‘ut phase with he insiation's 600m o 7.00pm, schedule, From a trace investigators ask questions about what cxased it, what the ‘e0n who created the trace invended, and what sequence of events led up tothe ‘rice. The inageable quality of physical traces makes ites o generate hypo ‘es about causes, intr, and sequence bu from the trace aloe researchers not el ow tenable thir hypotese re; © do this, they need oer methods, For example, ina brie evaluation of somewbatrn-dowa housing projec it Roxbury, Masachsets, Ziel (1973) found age, wel kept owen ribs inresdens’backyars. At Fst he fll sumed that residents beauifed thet Sal yards because they cared shot th appearance f the pees and wanted ther own vistas mere scenic. In ater interviews with ree he found that shrubs had ben planed years before in response fo a mangement sponsored ‘ompetiton forthe best garden. close second lok reveled tha ven god looking plas in the backyards ad been very much neglected. ‘The sume potential pitfall can aie whe investigates flely infin. ‘Ove morning a group af htc vsing a outag project fooler peopl int ‘redial iain section of Boston noticed» boce-al co surrounded by Spanment windows. It looked a if it ad never been esed. Tey tentatively oneluded tht something was wong wit the ality, ht esidets id no ike Playing bose bal or that they di not ike the leaion ofthe cout, In fat the court looked brand new because workmen had jos completed teever] days ‘efor. In adton it was early moming, ad anyone who might have wed the cout was sil t home is also diel wo infer proces. In a eubutban Boston prison, cll walls are papered from cling to floor with Payboy, Penthouse, abd Swank center> folds. Atfint plane i seems impressive that poner fx up thei dwelling units socxtensively—that they mak ut and pertonaietesitory vo dramatically, But ‘he impression the traces give is misleading. Most centerfolds bave ben ted to (he cll wal by series of previous inmates, Wall ae ot sipped when sweox CHAPTER? fame moves in, every 610 12 months, The wallapeed suroundings that inmates move lato offer them many diversions bat tle chance to personae. ‘isl ace records can be ued a illtatons of research concep This can rove sf toinvetigatars who watt fllow upon trace observations with Interviews to text their hypotheses. In stds of propery damage in pas (Welch, Zesel,& Ladd, 1978) and in schools (Zeisel, 1976), for example, lnvestigatrs showed sides of damaged propery to groups of eeagers, park ‘eoatcl. and persons living next to the propery is ode focus dicuson on Inha these pepe though about property damage. in lecture and reports, pictues f Vivid traces can belp viewers and readers understand physical stings in which poets were cae out. Lenihan (1966, nis report evaluating the VISTA program in he 1960, wanted readers toundrtand the wide variety of volunteers assignment: Appalachian mountain Wilages, Southwestern desert towne, tan slums. He sed photos of pysial Ince o augment te pay of his wting ‘The fares of covert vu impressions ean bea pill for careless ce searchers, ‘The visual inact of even low-fequency observation can be 30 (pest Alowering usher, neal new facies, vandalized windows—that they linac a yesearcher’s ind. Toa person walking though a well-kept housing development the beauty of fe flowering buses can give the impression ha there ae flowers in bloom everywhere, eventhough fe resins have bashes td nly some are lowering. When sich races ae phorographed and presented ‘ut of conten, they can mislead —a problem of false emphasis the visa com> ‘muncatons media face every day. fe importat hat observers alo tain them ‘eles o se tres hat do ot stand ut, soc as the carey of eran expert ‘hts or the absence of wear and tar. Ifyou ask yourself “What traces are ‘singin aditn to “What aces do Ise” you me mor likely nt tbe Seduce by wisly impressive tries. You wil begin to se wha is not there Unobtusive Observing race is an unobrusve method (Wed et al, 166. I des no Inuence the behavior that caused the wace ‘Unobrsienes is particularly ralsble when aubering data about which respondent are sensive or when respondents havea stake in certain answer Forexample, an investigator who wants wo know bow sect hospital attendants fallow fe-sufey rales wil lean more from coating the fire eis Blocked by Sete than frm interviewing senda, who may want © paint a roser Picts than actually exists, Sehoolpicias who want to avoid showing they fue ot doing 2 good job may report less damage to school propery than & ‘archer might observe iret. And picipals who want the school coma: {ecto incense the budget or mastenace may magnty the damage, Is respon- (ot at Rome knows researcher incoming, she may nesten up the howe (OBSERVING PHYSICAL TRACES 93, ‘beforehand, ping away such physical traces as toys in the livingroom, which might indicate how diferent rooms ae Use ‘Observing or measuring aces docs not require being present when the teaces ae created. The metod is terefrepatculaly wf to ind out about rar events, haro-se evens, private Behaviors, and behavior af ous who ‘cannot be interviewed. Zeiel's school study (1976) provides an example of ‘ing phil acest document private Bevo tat sha 0 obervediet- |y- During the day teenagers can be Seen hanging ou around schools, playing stictall ait wal, and Sometimes climbing ono rooftops. At night they onetime find tof be-way places around back oi togter, ink, and ‘make, Boson teenagers teat hese half hide stings as clubhouses where ‘utes are not allowed. The fit hint of sich nightie cibbouse activity ‘ane fom physical ces: empty Berean, icaded playing cart, cigarette ‘ots, ali, and broken lights Durable Many traces have the advantage for researchers that hey do no quickly aappear.nvenigators ean cern to 2 research site fr more observations oF ‘outing a ean document aces wth photograph or drawings. Ofcourse, he tore pemanent a trce ir, the greater ts chance of Being observed at al. For ‘ramp rock gardens and paving tones in romeoe's garden wil be vsble fr ear lng afer ras and flowers have virtual ippenrod. "Tete, however the problem of sletve deport. Some activites ae soe tel 0 lenve ts een. Th eaten of toe hing in back of ‘hoo! canbe detected the next day by the number of cans. Paying poker or smoking nonfier igs may leave no waces al Another consequece ofthe durability of aces is thir cumulative quality, ‘ater aces can encourage iter Ones. large numberof people may feel fe 10 ‘ros nw becase people who dd so before left a path, whereas few people ‘wold doo were tee no path. This cmolatve quality can case problems for Investigators who oteook it who thnk each act is independeat of earlier ones. Buti waces ae not ken oat of context, ter cumulative character can provide insights for dts gathering and anal. The finding, for example, that liter tendo bege liter Finn, 1973) is pariularywsefa if you want to arrange maintenance schedules in pk and around choos faxy Pyscatrace observation is generly inexpensive and alk yield i tereing information, The inexpensiveness of bref physiabuace suey rake Ht powsble in most research projects ot only to dover but aso © ‘explore in eater depth a hs of ital bypass Using more costly methods94 caapreR? would mean discarding posby ffl but implausible hypoteses witht Tooking a them closely. This same quality means, however, that researches ca waste their energy because ime and money do nt force them think trough ‘ach nial proposition rigorously before pong it the ld “The see and ease with which pial waces canbe reorded—in sil photographs, sketches, nottions make te method wf fr collecting peat tmany data for speedy feview. An iil site Vist can yield enough recoded teratos for weks of review and analysis. This is helpful i generating 3 Tang of testable propositions and hypaheses, Yet the ares can he wich ha iC sedoes research team not f0 lookfurhe: "We already hve to much information. Why do we eed more?™ In sum, observing physical ices isimagable nd unbraive, deals with tbl daa, ands easy 10 do. The following section of this chapter dscust ‘ways to record race observations and cls of races partly el- vate questions of design RECORDING DEVICES Investigators sve energy and ime by deciding before going it he field tow and when they will cord wate observations anotted diagrams, da Ings, photographs, precoded courting ls, ora combina of hese. I phto- (gaphe ae chosen researches decide such nen ax wher pinto lies wil te more wef forthe purposes ofthe study or wheter both are needed. Each cision affects how trae cbservations can be analyzed how they can be sedi onjurton with her research thas, and how ndings wl be presented ‘Observations ought also to be timed to avoid possible systematic eects of Imintenace schedules or predictable stvity eycles om the dat—for instance, ‘aly moming cleanups that obliterate signs of tenager right life around shoo Annotated Diagrams Recording traces verbally and diagrammatically, asa rule, ques lite epaation and o special skills. Except for notepad, the recording method is ‘nobrusve; to make it stil less obausve, alned observers may memorize major eae in setting and record ther ater. Tas is especialy possibe when the setig i simple andthe objective standardize, at when making Sagan of fumiuelyous in people's living ooms for «study of what fariure people ‘own and how they arange it using a two-person interview one itrviewer can inconspcuouly daw a Plan of he seting and pote where objec ae located and where physical aces (OBSERVING PHYSICAL TRACES. 95, tue In setings where cameras ae out of place or lighting is felt and the ‘eseaher does not want wse fash atachent, writen tae notation is {pproprite. Annotted diagrams rasa well ited when toes can be recoded ‘on two-dimensional plan and then sted. The arangerent of chars Sommer (0969) observed inthe patient dayroom could perhaps be epresoted in pan more effectively than in photographs. ‘When annotated diagrams are chosen as one of the recoding devices sever tls of thumb can be helpful. Agreement amng researchers on 8st of standard symbols wl inerease comparability ofthe dats within a project. For 2 ‘ese Moor pln, for example, «team might xe traditional arcitectarat Symbols fr forure. When researchers av several projects se such standard tnd easly undesioed symbol, their data can be more euly compared and shares, e O om Ascites ‘Oudoor and in special stings, investigntrs may have wo be mae inven: tive abot the symbols they we. la their sty of pees and pedestians on Rome's Spanish Steps, Gate, Reisnk, snd Oster (1978) developed ase of symbols fo recording how pdr aang heir ates (se vex poe) you wat your observation gots ot o be confused wth ur reactions ‘0 what You saw, you mus ot analyze them in the Held. Provisions need to be ‘ade facie sbsequet analysis. ‘A simple device can facia peiminary analysis of fled notes with 3 mininuen of fes: Orginal noes and diagrams sre made om the Ket al ofthe ‘uepuper leaving the ph blf open for reording hunches and preliminary hypotheses (Se the tation “Furntre Layout in El Baro Apartment,” p. 7), A wide margin can be made on any aepaper simply by ceasing it Winvesgaters ow the for plas of the paces tobe observed, and i moe than en similar place so be observed othe sane lace i be loked et ‘several tines, their notepaper can have Noor pln printed on it Ti falta, ‘making notes and ensures comparblty of diagrams. This method can be wed ually well for intron, such a ofces, wating room, ot dwelling units (Zeise, 1973) and for exteriors, such as playgrounds, set cores, or Baas (Gime tal. 1978)96 chapreR? OBSERVING PHYSICAL TRACES. 97 OBSERVATIONS ‘comments eden fom wing the artes | See he ing oom? Does the bathroom locaton next Ieithehichonfeatng are Boar reds? The hichen seems 1 be the main place ov et ig ecu ‘she dorkne bedrooms — fused B drening curans— for prises? Ws st pres fom rigors oon no rm the ret of the fom ‘The ine room door permanente chen door the ma ond on ees this meon that mos people Stn he itchen mast f he one? Pears, and esponve TY inte tng room ser toy his | room tered spc moat |e blocked ng rom door ‘Pape toad the nares rom ‘Anca fhe Spanish tps. From Ram Spice Pepe by Ghat, W. Rein, nd. Gite, Cope 978 by VSA Vag, : ambery Rep by piso) Famine got in EI Baro wputmen Sample fel aot om Zee, 19798 CHAPTER? Drawings observers have the sil to make sketches ofthe traces the see th ime ic whes may well be wartivtle. Drawings canbe extemely useful is faa "epors ecrose they are highly imageable an inexpensive to reproduce Photographs Photographs of physical acs taken tthe binning ofa research projet ‘can pve ll partes working on an inital overview ofthe types of things they ‘2c Lely 1 seein he field. Discusion of photographs among team members an quickly geerte hypotheses about possible fruitful issves fo furthers ‘A group can leiurely cuss what bebavor a ace might refect and what nent ‘ght be behind it For these reasons, iis generally valuable to documet both arly photograpbed cstoor traces an indoor acs, sihough indoor ones may behardero phaxopreph. Photograph re parca valube ifthe esearch ‘Sot ea accesible because it sto faraway, requires special pemision © ‘nt or ialtogete temporary for example, accu) ‘When investigators expect to count tase, they can first analyze photo- saphs of servations to decide o categories for counting. Photographs canbe ‘ied stimuli forased interviews, to determin he steps respnets Se ven they se uch things. At the end ofa projet, photograph are exelent 0 grate verbal presentation of findings. Many ofthese qualies hod fr phoo- saphsinsesearch, wheter they are of pial waceso of bebavir nthe field several ues of thumb safe trick can possibly s¥e tne, ‘money, and embarassment. Expensive cameras are eid more wef as Search wols than inexpeesive ones. Researchers need to take some pbtographs themselves because they know what fo ecord for analysis—what 0 incldein the picture and what o lave out For iluszaive photograph, one can alsaye tires profesional photographer (or choose the most skilled esearch). Even then on wll hve fo el he profesional precisely what photograph, When ‘stra uments needed—fr instance, Nash atacenents riod fr nerie photographs it most be selected with consideration of both esearch teque- ‘mens ud espondens’ sensi. ‘A researchers choice of im bas pehaps the greatest consequences forthe res of testy. Blackcand-white photographs, useful a ildsrabons, an ako ‘be made usefl as objects for group discasion. Color photographs are expensive nd difcl to pt, From contac shets ordre from negatives, esearch an choose number af photographs which seem o cover the ange of ences they ae aware of, which seem to be mos interesting, or which require more