Observation and Ethnography Flashcards
(10 cards)
What is observation?
Systematic process of recording the behavioural patterns of people, objects, and occurrences to obtain information about the phenomenon
What is structured observation?
The researcher specifies in detail what is to be observed and how the measurement are to be recorded
What is unstructured Observation?
The observer monitors all the aspects of the phenomenon that seem relvant at hand.
What is open observation
Visible
- may behave differently
- Potential bias
What is disguised?
Hidden
- video cameras, one way mirrors etc
- Cannot gather any additional info
Types of human observation
- In person
- One way mirror
- Video footage
- Mystery shopper
Benefits of observation
- Permits accurate measurement of actual behaviour
- Provides detailed behavioural data
- Potential bias caused by the interviewer
- Certain types of data can be collected only by observation
Types o fmechanical observation
- Scanner generated data
- Eye trackking
- Physiological devices
- Neuroscientific devices
Limitations of observation
- Difficult to generalise findings
- Some observational data is time-consuming and expensive to collect
- Hard to explain behaviours or events unless combined with another method
What is ethnography?
the stud of human behaviour in its natural context, involves participant and non participant observation
