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A research design aimed at understanding behaviour in its natural contexts.

4. Observational Research. Ethnography. A research design aimed at understanding behaviour in its natural contexts. Research Methods immerse researcher in the world of subjects. Examples :. Observation. Unstructured Interviews. Personal Documents. © onlineclassroom.tv 2007.

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A research design aimed at understanding behaviour in its natural contexts.

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  1. 4. Observational Research Ethnography A research design aimed at understanding behaviour in its natural contexts. Research Methods immerse researcher in the world of subjects. Examples : • Observation • Unstructured Interviews • Personal Documents © onlineclassroom.tv 2007

  2. 4. Observational Research Observational Methods: Non-participant: researcher observes from a distance and is not directly involved with those being observed. Participant: researcher interacts with those being observed. Covert: subjects do not know they are being observed. Overt: Subjects are aware they are being observed. © onlineclassroom.tv 2007

  3. 4. Observational Research Ethics in Observational Research Research ethics: a duty of care the researcher owes to the participants. Key ethical principles - Participants should: • Be fully informed of the purpose of the research. • Not be harmed. • Not be specifically identified. An ethical dilemma: a conflict between ethical principles and the aim of the research. © onlineclassroom.tv 2007

  4. 4. Observational Research Participant Observation Advantages: • High validity: see behaviour in its natural context. • Empathy: can understand individual meanings. • Can study social interaction including non-verbal interaction. • Gives flexibility and innovation. © onlineclassroom.tv 2007

  5. 4. Observational Research Participant Observation: Problems • Getting In: May be difficult for the researcher to enter an organisation or group (such as a school). • Staying In: Researcher has to work at making relationships and maintaining trust. • Getting Out: Not easy to simply “stop participating”. © onlineclassroom.tv 2007

  6. 4. Observational Research Participant Observation: Limitations • Low reliability – difficult to repeat. • Observer effect – people’s behaviour may change if they know they are being observed. • Hard to generalise: small samples and people studied rarely representative of wider population. • Non-standardised data collection: usually hard to quantify. • Time consuming, labour intensive. © onlineclassroom.tv 2007

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