Full transcript
0:00So let's talk about field observations
0:02and taking good field notes.
0:05So why are field observations important?
0:07For one, they involve systematically
0:11observing and recording behaviors,
0:13interactions,
0:14and environments in their natural setting.
0:16And that's key.
0:17So while a lot of
0:18psychologists, for example,
0:20might do lab -based experiments,
0:23sociologists tend to prefer to see people in
0:25their natural social context. Sort of like
0:28national geographic, but instead of observing
0:29animals out on the tundra, we're observing
0:32humans within their societal environments.
0:35That's super helpful because you can get deep
0:38contextual insights that an interview or a
0:41survey might miss. You know, people will often
0:44lie to you or lie to themselves in interviews
0:46or surveys, but if you observe their
0:48behavior in a natural setting, you tend to get
0:50a more objective, accurate perspective. It
0:54captures unfiltered real-time data on social
0:57behavior. And if you are like literally
0:59recording, you can capture body language, tone,
1:02you can map out spatial dynamics that
1:04really enrich the research. For example,
1:07you can survey students about their
1:09study habits or you could observe students
1:11like student interactions in a library
1:14and learn more about those study habits.
1:17So let's talk about types of field
1:18observation. You can think of this as a two-by
1:20-two matrix. You have to decide the degree
1:23to which you are going to be a participant
1:25observer or a non -participant observer.
1:28And then you also need to decide
1:29if you're doing structured observation
1:31or unstructured observation.
1:33And so you can basically be
1:35in any of these quadrants.
1:37So participant observation.
1:40Let's start with that.
1:41Participant versus non-participant.
1:43If you are a participant,
1:44it's immersive and engaged.
1:46So you're actively participating in the
1:48setting. It's best for understanding lived
1:50experiences firsthand. For example, maybe
1:53you volunteer at a community center while
1:55you're studying social support networks.
1:57There is the risk of bias due to researcher
1:59involvement. If you join a community
2:01and become part of that community,
2:03sometimes there becomes this temptation
2:05to really want to view it in a positive
2:07light. If it becomes your in-group,
2:09then you have to pay extra
2:10attention to the objectivity that
2:12you bring to your observations.
2:14Now, many people will be a
2:15non-participant observer.
2:17So if participant observation is all
2:19about immersive and engaged observations,
2:23this is more detached and objective.
2:26The researcher observes from
2:27a distance without engaging.
2:29It's best for studying natural,
2:31unaltered behaviors where you don't
2:33want to interfere or change the behavior
2:35of the people you're observing.
2:36Maybe you're interested in
2:38interactions in public spaces and you
2:40sit in a coffee shop to study how
2:42strangers initiate conversations.
2:44One challenge is that you may not
2:46have as much access to the participant's
2:49thoughts or intentions. If you're
2:50not talking with them, interacting
2:52with them, participating with them,
2:54you might have to make assumptions
2:56about why they're doing what they're
2:58doing. You don't necessarily get the
3:00benefit of being able to just talk to
3:01them and see it through their eyes.
3:03Okay, so that's one choice you have to
3:04make, is the degree to which you will be a
3:06participant or non -participant observer.
3:09Second, are you going to do structured
3:11observation or unstructured? So structured
3:14usually comes with a predefined checklist.
3:17It's best for comparative studies.
3:21You want to study two environments and
3:22you have a checklist of things you're
3:23looking for or frequency analysis, how often
3:26certain behaviors happen and you're
3:27literally counting. It almost adds a little
3:29quantitative dimension to an otherwise
3:31qualitative method of collecting data.
3:33Maybe, for example, you're studying classroom
3:35behavior and you literally are counting
3:37how many times students raise their
3:38hand or how long each question is. One
3:42challenge is that you can miss unexpected or
3:44nuanced behaviors if you have a pretty
3:45rigid checklist, and you're only looking for those
3:48behaviors, then there's other things you
3:50may not have on that list that you miss.
3:53Now unstructured
3:53observation is the opposite.
3:56So rather than some predefined checklist,
3:58it's very flexible and exploratory.
4:00It's open-ended, there's no strict
4:02format. The researcher just
4:03records what they see as they go.
4:05And this is great for emerging themes and
4:07patterns. Maybe it's a new area, it's more
4:09exploratory, and so that's one of the
4:12benefits. It's flexible and exploratory. If
4:14there's a subculture you want to study and
4:17you don't know anything about them, just go
4:19in with some unstructured observation and
4:20start taking notes of what you see. An
4:23example might be observing how people navigate
4:26public space without a specific focus.
4:29And you're observing the way
4:30people move about and interact.
4:32One challenge, though, is your data can
4:34become overwhelming and hard to analyze.
4:37If you don't have a clear focus,
4:39then anything could be data. And then at
4:42the end, you have all of these field notes
4:43and it can be hard. to code them for
4:45themes if your notes are all over the place.
4:48Nevertheless,
4:49both of these have strengths, whether it's
4:51a very structured approach, a very unstructured
4:53approach, or something in the middle.
4:56So I want to emphasize a few tips on
4:59writing effective field notes. Yes, you
5:01can just go out in the field and start
5:03taking notes, and maybe you have a
5:05loose focus of what you're looking for.
5:07Really, the best notes start with a bit
5:09of organization, some intentionality.
5:12And so generally I recommend taking three
5:14types of notes, and they're very distinct.
5:16The first are descriptive notes, and this is
5:19what the majority of your notes should be.
5:21They're objective. You're not saying why
5:23something is happening. You're just reporting
5:25what you're seeing, reporting what people are
5:27doing in that natural social setting.
5:29Descriptive notes can come in two forms, structured
5:33and unstructured type of descriptive notes.
5:35So if it's structured descriptive notes,
5:38you'll usually, like I mentioned,
5:40with a checklist have defined
5:41measurement strategies to record
5:43observations in a very consistent way.
5:46So maybe in your structured notes, you
5:48know, you have a frequency count, you know,
5:50counted four gestures in two minutes
5:51or duration. You timed a two minute exchange
5:54or intensity rated engagement level
5:57as a four out of five because you have
5:59little scales, behavioral observation
6:01scales you're using. So those can be very
6:03helpful in getting concrete data, especially
6:05if you're comparing different sites,
6:07or you can have unstructured open-ended
6:09descriptive notes, just what you see
6:11and hear without the preset metrics or
6:13checklist. At 3 o'clock p.m., two people
6:15sat together, one gestured while speaking,
6:18and you're writing what you see. The
6:19first main kind of field notes are the
6:21descriptive notes. They're objective,
6:24and you're just writing what you see, and
6:26you can write these in either structured
6:27or unstructured formats or a blend. The
6:30second kind of notes are interpretive notes.
6:33They're almost like preliminary analysis.
6:35You reflect on possible meanings of some
6:37of the behaviors you observe, right? So,
6:39for example, the two seemed deeply
6:41focused on a task, likely discussing work or
6:43something. So if you think they're talking
6:45about work, maybe you don't know for
6:46sure, but you're putting ideas in there.
6:49Maybe you see something that gives you
6:51an idea for a theory you could link to.
6:54But these are sort of the, you know, thinking
6:56to yourself about what you're seeing.
6:58So the descriptive notes are an objective
7:00accounting of what you see. The interpretive
7:03notes are a more subjective preliminary
7:05analysis, starting to give yourself some aha
7:07-asides that you might come back to later.
7:11And then the lastly are reflective notes.
7:13These are your personal reactions. This
7:15helps you stay objective and unbiased.
7:18You want to try to capture your own biases,
7:20your emotional responses, or any
7:21challenges you have during your observation.
7:24For example, I realized I paid more
7:26attention to the loud interactions.
7:28I might have overlooked quieter
7:29participants, you know, something like that.
7:31I felt uncomfortable in this setting.
7:33I was the only person of your gender
7:35or race or religion or something.
7:37So you're trying to be honest with
7:39yourself and the fact that you carry
7:41lenses and values into a setting.
7:44And so it can help you later.
7:47When you look at your notes, especially
7:48your descriptive notes, you can temper
7:50that with whatever reflective notes you
7:51had about your own personal reactions.
7:53Descriptive notes can be
7:54unstructured or structured,
7:56an objective accounting of what you see,
7:58interpretive notes, these are subjective
8:00ideas of why you think you're seeing
8:03what you're seeing, a bit of preliminary
8:04analysis or some ideas, aha moments,
8:08and reflective notes. These are your
8:09personal reactions, trying to capture
8:11your own biases and emotional responses.
8:14So field observations offer valuable
8:16insights into social behavior, but you
8:18want to choose the right type of
8:20observation based on what your research
8:21goals are. They're not all the same,
8:24but be sure to take detailed, well
8:25-structured field notes with a little planning
8:28before you go in, your notes will be a
8:30lot better. Knowing if you're a participant
8:31or non-participant, if you're doing
8:33structured or unstructured note-taking.
8:35Balance the objective
8:36description, the interpretation,
8:39and the self-reflection in those notes.