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Advantages and disadvantages of observation - University of Strathclyde

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Advantages and disadvantages of observation

Advantages of Observation as A Method of Data Collection
Directness The m ain stre ngth of obse rvation is that it provide s dire ct acce ss to the social phe nom e na unde r conside ration. Inste ad of re lying on som e k ind of se lf-re port, such as ask ing pe ople what the y would do in a ce rtain situation, you actually obse rve and re cord the ir be haviour in that situation. This, in principle at le ast, avoids the wide range of proble m s associate d with se lf-re port. In an inte rvie w situation or in re sponse to a que stionnaire ite m , for e x am ple , a pe rson m ay not always provide accurate or com ple te inform ation, or the y m ight answe r in ways that corre spond to what is socially de sirable . The re is a re cognise d source of bias in se lf-re port te chnique s re fe rre d to as a 'social de sirability se t', which m e ans that in m any sphe re s of social life the re are socially de sirable ways of be having and, consciously or unconsciously, individuals will te nd to re spond in that way, although in the 're al world' the y m ight be have diffe re ntly. Ask ing childre n whe the r the y would te nd to be he lpful to othe r childre n in ce rtain situations, for e x am ple , would be susce ptible to such a source of bias. Diversity, Flexibility and A pplicability O bse rvation can tak e dive rse form s, from inform al and unstructure d approache s through to tightly structure d, standardise d proce dure s and can yie ld associate d dive rse type s of data, both qualitative and quantitative . O bse rvation, the re fore , is applicable in a wide range of conte x ts. Provision of a permanent record Much of hum an social be haviour that m ay be of inte re st to the re se arche r is highly transie nt. The fact that all obse rvation e ntails som e form of re cording m e ans that it provide s a pe rm ane nt re cord of such e ve nts or be haviour, thus allowing furthe r analysis or subse que nt com parisons across tim e or location to be carrie d out. Complementarity with other approaches Using m ore than one te chnique of data colle ction through a proce ss of triangulation is se e n as highly de sirable as an ove rarching re se arch strate gy. The re fore , anothe r stre ngth of obse rvation is that it can e ffe ctive ly com ple m e nt othe r approache s and thus e nhance the quality of e vide nce available to the re se arche r.

Observation
What is observation? Advantages and disadvantages of observation Structured observation and data Structured observation schedules and coding schemes Reliability, validity, objectivity Tools to facilitate data collection Unstructured observation Key features in qualitative observation Further issues in qualitative observation References

Disadvantages of Observation
Practicability O ne of the m ain disadvantage s of obse rvation is that it can be ve ry tim e consum ing and re source inte nsive . O bse rvation m ay be a ve ry de sirable strate gy to e x plore ce rtain re se arch que stions, but it m ay sim ply not be fe asible for the re se arche r with lim ite d tim e and re source s to carry out the obse rvation and, the re fore , alte rnative strate gie s would have to be pursue d. Observer Bias A fundam e ntal pote ntial we ak ne ss of all obse rvation is that it is susce ptible to obse rve r bias subje ctive bias on the part of the obse rve r thus unde rm ining the re liability and he nce the validity of the data gathe re d. This can be be cause the obse rve r re cords not what actually happe ne d, but what the y e ithe r wante d to se e , e x pe cte d to se e , or m e re ly thought the y saw. Observer Effect Anothe r pote ntial we ak ne ss of obse rvation is the so-calle d obse rve r e ffe ct, which re fe rs to the way in which the pre se nce of an obse rve r in som e way influe nce s the be haviour of those be ing obse rve d. In orde r to avoid or m inim ise this, m e thods of obse rvation som e tim e s atte m pt to be as unobtrusive as possible . Unive rsity of Strathclyde Edit

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