Chapter 8

Observation

Slide 8-2
 Observation

§ Observation involves going into ‘the field’, -

the factory, the supermarket, the waiting
room, the office, or the trading room -
watching what workers, consumers, or day
traders do, and describing, analyzing, and
interpreting what one has seen.

Slide 8-3
 Examples
§ Shadowing a Wall Street broker engaged in his
daily routine.
§ Observing in-store shopping behavior of
consumers via a camera.
§ Sitting in the corner of an office to observe how
a merchant bank trader operates.
§ Working in a plant to study factory life.
§ Studying the approach skills of sales people
disguised as a shopper.

Slide 8-4
 Key Dimensions Characterizing Type of
Observation

§ Controlled versus Uncontrolled Observational

Studies
§ Participant versus Non-Participant
Observation
§ Structured versus Unstructured Observational
Studies
§ Concealed versus Unconcealed observation

Slide 8-5
 Participant Observation

§ The participatory aspect:

§ Complete participation
§ Moderate participation
§ Active participation

§ To what extent should I participate?

Slide 8-6
 Participant Observation

§ The observation aspect

§ Obtaining permission
§ Finding a ‘sponsor’
§ Establishing rapport

Slide 8-7
 What to Observe?

§ Descriptive observation stage:

§ Space
§ Objects
§ Actors
§ Feelings
§ Events
Spradly, 1980

Slide 8-8
 What to Observe?

§ Focused and selective observation stage:

§ Look for a story line
§ Sort out regular from irregular activities
§ Look for variation in the storyline
§ Look for negative cases or exceptions
§ Develop a plan for systematic observation if
needed

DeWalt and DeWalt, 2002

Slide 8-9
 Structured Observation

§ Looks selectively at predetermined phenomena

§ Different levels of structure

Slide 8-10
 Coding Schemes

§ Focus

§ Objective

§ Ease of use

§ Mutually exclusive and collectively exhaustive

Slide 8-11
 Standard Coding Schemes

§ Simple checklist

§ Sequence record

§ Sequence record on time scale

Slide 8-12