1. © LOUIS COHEN, LAWRENCE MANION AND KEITH MORRISON
OBSERVATION
© LOUIS COHEN, LAWRENCE MANION AND KEITH MORRISON

2. STRUCTURE OF THE CHAPTER
Structured observation
The need to practise structured observation
Analysing data from structured observations
Critical incidents
Naturalistic and participant observation
Data analysis for less structured observations
Natural and artificial settings for observation
Video observations
The use of technology in recording observations
Timing and causality with observational data
Ethical considerations
Reliability and validity in observations

3. OBSERVATIONS ARE . . . looking (often systematically);
noting systematically people, events, behaviours, settings, artefacts, routines etc.;
concerned with live data and situations;
selective and theory-driven (there are no neutral observations);
on a continuum from highly structured to semi-structured to unstructured.

4. SETTINGS THAT RESEARCHERS CAN OBSERVE
The physical setting
E.g. the physical environment and its organization);
The human setting
E.g. the organization of people, the characteristics and make-up of the groups or individuals being observed, for instance, gender, class
The interactional setting
E.g. interactions that are taking place, formal, informal, planned, unplanned, verbal, non-verbal etc.
The programme setting
E.g. resources and their organization, pedagogic styles, curricula and their organization
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

5. DIMENSIONS OF OBSERVATION
Structured, systematic and quantitative observation versus unstructured, unsystematic and qualitative observation.
Participant observation versus non-participant observation.
Overt versus covert observation.
Observation in natural settings versus observation in unnatural, artificial settings (e.g. a ‘laboratory’ or contrived situation).
Self-observation versus observation of others.
Direct (with the observer present) versus indirect (e.g. video cameras).
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

6. ROLE OF OBSERVER Complete participation to complete detachment
Complete participant
Participant as observer
Observer as participant
Complete observer
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

7. CONTINUA OF OBSERVATION
Pre-specified/pre-ordinate
Responsive
Quantitative
Qualitative
Time-bound
Open-ended
Short-term
Long-term
Structured/systematic
Unstructured/ad hoc
Participant observation
Non-participant observation
Highly focused/early focused
Unfocused/late focused
Descriptive
Explanatory
Overt
Covert
Laboratory/contrived settings
Natural settings
Direct observation
Indirect observation
Observing others
Observing self and others

8. OBSERVERS MUST CONSIDER . . .
The focus of the observation(s);
Why they are observing;
The research questions that the observational data will address;
What to include and exclude;
How to record the observations;
Where to observe;
What to observe;
Whom to observe;
How many people, events, settings to observe.

9. OBSERVERS MUST CONSIDER . . .
How systematic, structured, descriptive to be;
The ‘unit’ of observation (e.g. a teacher, a student, a pair, a small group, a class);
What resources are necessary;
Problems that might be encountered;
Additional information that may be needed to complement the observational record;
The processing and analysis of data.

10. OBSERVERS MUST CONSIDER . . .
How the observation may be affected by the sex, sexuality, ethnicity, class, appearance, age, language, personality, temperament, attitude, interpersonal behaviour, familiarity with the situation, involvement and concern of the observer;
Whether the observer will stand or sit, or move around a setting;
Where to stand or sit.

11. STRUCTURED OBSERVATION
Systematic
Enables the researcher to generate numerical data from the observations
Non-participant observer
Data entered onto a structured observation schedule

12. STRUCTURED OBSERVATION
Observation categories are discrete: no overlap
Timed
The researcher will need to practise completing the schedule consistently and at speed
The researcher will need to decide what entry code/symbol is to be made in the appropriate category

13. STRUCTURED OBSERVATION
STRUCTURED OBSERVATION
Student to Student /
Student to Students
Student to Teacher
Students to Teacher
Teacher to Student
Teacher to Students
Student to Self
Task in hand 
Previous task
Future task
Non-task          

14. EVENT SAMPLING (Each occurrence)
Boss shouts at employee / / / / / Employee shouts at boss / / / Employee’s colleague shouts at boss / / Boss shouts at employee’s colleague / /

15. TWO DIFFERENT STORIES 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Boss shouts at employee / / / / /
Boss shouts at employee / / / / /
Employee shouts at boss / / /
Employee’s friend shouts at boss / /
Boss shouts at employee’s friend / /
Boss shouts at employee / / / / /
Employee shouts at boss / / /
Employee’s friend shouts at boss / /
Boss shouts at employee’s friend / /

16. INSTANTANEOUS SAMPLING (On the instant of time)
Boss smiles at employee / / / / Employee smiles at boss / / / / Boss smiles at employee’s friend / / / / Employee’s friend smiles at boss / / / /
INTERVAL RECORDING (What has happened in the previous time period)

17. RATING SCALES CRITICAL INCIDENTS
Warm _ _ _ _ _ Aloof Stimulating _ _ _ _ _ Dull Businesslike _ _ _ _ _ Slipshod
CRITICAL INCIDENTS

18. THE NEED TO PRACTISE STRUCTURED OBSERVATION
Entering data consistently and at speed
Catching all the data
Where to observe/stand/sit

19. ANALYSING DATA FROM STRUCTURED OBSERVATIONS
Frequencies
Patterns
Unusual data
Frequently occurring
Aggregated data
Quantitized and qualitized

20. NATURALISTIC AND PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
Naturalistic research often uses participant observation
Observations are recorded in field notes and audio-visually

21. SIX MAIN CATEGORIES IN PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
Acts (specific actions)
Activities (which last a longer time, for instance, a week, a term, months, e.g. attendance at school, membership of a club)
Meanings (e.g. how participants explain the causes of, meanings of and purposes of particular events and actions)
Participation (what the participants do, e.g. membership of a family group, school groups, peer group, clubs and societies, extra-curricular groups)
Relationships (those which are observed in the several settings and contexts in which the observation is undertaken)
Settings (descriptions of the settings of the actions and behaviours observed)
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

22. FIELD NOTES (1) Space The physical setting Actors
The people in the situation
Activities
The sets of related acts that are taking place
Objects
The artifacts and physical things that are there
Acts
The specific actions that participants are doing
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

23. FIELD NOTES (2) Acts The specific actions that participants are doing
Events
The sets of activities that are taking place
Time
The sequence of acts, activities and events
Goals
What people are trying to achieve
Feelings
What people feel and how they express this
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

24. FIELD NOTES (3)
Types
Jottings; transcriptions; reports; pen portraits;reconstructions of conversations; descriptions of physical settings; reports of events and behaviour; descriptions of researcher’s activities; ongoing notes; logs and diaries; notes on pre‑determined themes; chronologs; discussion data

25. FIELD NOTES (4) Timing and focus Notes made in situ
Expanded notes that are made as soon as possible after the initial observations
Journal notes to record issues, ideas, difficulties etc. that arise during the fieldwork
A developing, tentative running record of ongoing analysis and interpretation

26. FIELD NOTES (5) Description Space: the physical setting
Actors: the people in the situation
Activities: the sets of related acts that are taking place
Objects: the artifacts and physical things that are there
Acts: the specific actions that participants are doing
Events: the sets of activities that are taking place
Time: the sequence of acts, activities and events
Goals: what people are trying to achieve
Feelings: what people feel and how they express this

27. FIELD NOTES (6) Reflection
Reflections on the descriptions and analyses that have been done
Reflections on the methods used in the observations and data collection and analysis
Ethical issues, tensions, problems and dilemmas
The reactions of the observer to what has been observed and recorded – attitude, emotion, analysis etc.
Points of clarification that have been and/or need to be made
Possible lines of further inquiry

28. DATA ANALYSIS FROM FIELD NOTES
Qualitative data analysis
Coding, classifying, categorizing
Nodes and connection
Summarizing
Narrative accounts
Constant comparison
Grounded theory
Theoretical saturation
Thematic analysis
Patterning
Quantitizing (e.g. frequencies)

29. DATA ANALYSIS FROM FIELD NOTES
Review, analyse and code early rather than accumulating too much data before analysis.
Code densely at first (i.e. avoid moving too quickly into summarizing).
Keep track of the data analysis over time.
Verify intuitions with data.
Identify themes and patterns.
Look for clusters of events, activities, people, behaviours etc.
Write metaphors to catch the essence of features.
Be prepared to disaggregate as well as aggregate data in order to preserve fidelity to the events/people/situations.
Put codes into hierarchies.
Ensure conceptual coherence to the analysis.
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

30. USING TECHNOLOGY IN RECORDING OBSERVATIONS
Audio-visual recording
Problems of reactivity
Fixed or moving camera
Operator present with camera/camera; no operator present
How many cameras?
Location of camera(s)
Close focus or panorama?

31. VIDEO RECORDING OF OBSERVATION
What kind of recording to use (visual only, audio-visual, overt or covert, CCTV etc.)?
The focus of the video (e.g. close-up, distant) and how to balance close-up and long-distance focus.
How many, and what kind of, cameras (e.g. fixed, moveable, wearable, digital pens etc.)?
Whether to have a fixed, roaming or wearable camera?
Who operates the video camera(s)?
Where to position the camera(s)?
When to start and stop the recording?
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

32. VIDEO RECORDING OF OBSERVATION
How many events to record and over what time period (i.e. how much data to collect and from whom)?
How to catch the context of the video recording and the ‘bigger picture’ over time.
How to avoid data overload.
How to minimize reactivity.
How to combine video data with other data to obtain a complete picture.
The unit of analysis for the video, e.g. individuals, groups, events, behaviours, time, themes etc.
How to analyse, interpret and report the video data.
© 2018 Louis Cohen, Lawrence Manion and Keith Morrison; individual chapters, the contributors

33. TIMING AND CAUSALITY WITH OBSERVATIONAL DATA
When to observe effects of an intervention?
How many time points for observation?
How frequent are the observations?
The more accurately we wish to know the causal sequences, the more frequently and closer together must be the observational data-collection points.
The more complex is the phenomenon under investigation, the more time points for observational data collection may be necessary in order to understand the causation.
Ethnography may be more useful than numerical studies in identifying causality.

34. ETHICS Informed consent Covert or overt Disturbing the natural setting
Deception and pretence
Impression management
Confidentiality/anonymity/privacy/non-traceability
Protection of individuals
Loyalties (and to whom)
Ignoring dubious acts (e.g. criminal acts)

35. RELIABILITY AND VALIDITY
Selective attention of the observer
Reactivity
Attention deficit of observer
Validity of constructs
Selective data entry
Selective memory for write-ups of observations
Interpersonal matters and counter-transference
Expectancy effects
Decisions on how to record
Number of observers
The problem of inference

36. PLANNING OBSERVATIONS
When, where, how and what to observe.
How much structure is necessary in the observation (structured to unstructured).
The duration of the observation period.
The timing of the observation period.
The context of the observation.
The opportunity to observe.
Merging subjective and objective observation.
The value of covert participant observation in order to reduce reactivity.

37. PLANNING OBSERVATIONS
Threats to reliability and validity.
Operationalizing the observation so that what counts as evidence is consistent, unambiguous and valid.
Appropriate kind of structured observation and recording.
Ethical issues.
Whether deception is justified.
Which role(s) to adopt on the continuum of complete participant to complete observer.