Observation: a complex research method.(Ethnological methods)

ABSTRACT

As an ethnographic research method, observation has a long history. The value of observation is that it permits researchers to study people in their native environment in order to understand "things" from their perspective. Observation requires the researcher to spend considerable time in the field with the possibility of adopting various roles in order to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the people being studied. A variety of techniques are used to collect data. Gaining access to the group and leaving the field are two important factors that need consideration. Other areas of concern involve ethical problems, as well as validity and reliability issues. Until recently, few library and information science (LIS) studies have included this method; however, observation is gaining favor as LIS researchers seek to understand better the role of information in people's everyday lives.

INTRODUCTION

As an ethnographic research method, observation seems to have no specific beginning. While some researchers found indications of its use in ancient times, others have pointed to the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when anthropologists starting "collecting data firsthand" (Atkinson & Hammersley, 1994, p. 249). Describing it as the "bedrock source of human knowledge" about the "social and natural world," Adler and Adler (1994) stated that Aristotle used observational techniques in his botanical studies on tile island of Lesbos and that Auguste Comte, the father of sociology, listed observation as one of the "four core research methods" (p. 377).

In the current research environment, its status seems to have changed, leading Adler and Adler to question whether observation is a research method "in its own right" or "a stepchild to its more widely recognized offshoot: participant observation" (1994, p. 378). Further confusing the picture is the variety of labels (for example, observation, participant observation, or ethnography) that seem to be used interchangeably by researchers to describe what was once called simply "observation." Finally, in some research methods textbooks and articles, observation has been described as a research method as well as a data collection method (Powell & Connaway, 2004; Williamson, 2000; Pearsall, 1970). Williamson prefers to categorize observation as a data collection technique because it can be used in a variety of research methods.

Observation is a complex research method because it often requires the researcher to play a number of roles and to use a number of techniques, including her/his five senses, to collect data. In addition, despite the level of involvement with the study group, the researcher must always remember her/his primary role as a researcher and remain detached enough to collect and analyze data relevant to the problem under investigation. The purpose of this article is to describe in some depth the types of roles a researcher can assume during an observational study. In addition, an overview of some of the characteristics unique to observational research, as well as validity and reliability and ethical issues, are addressed. Interspersed throughout the article are some examples of LIS studies in which the observation method has been used. Two topics are not covered in this article. The first topic is structured observation, which Glazier defined as a "qualitative research method" in which "pre-determined categories are used to guide" (1985, p. 105) the recording of activities undertaken by people in their natural environments. Because the role of the observer is limited to recording events, it is outside the scope of this article. Analysis of qualitative data has been covered in detail in a number of books (see, for example, Strauss & Corbin, 1990; Spradley, 1980) and therefore will not be covered in this article.

At this point, it is also important to mention the difficulty one encounters searching for studies that have used this method in either Library Literature or Library and Information Science Abstracts (LISA). Some researchers do not specify what role they played. For example, in her study of janitors, Chatman (1990) does not indicate the role she adopted. This practice leads to either broad subject headings or to the complete absence of indexing terms applied to observational studies. As part of their study of research method trends in the literature on human information behavior (HIB), McKechnie, Baker, Greenwood, and Julien (2002) examined how Library Literature and LISA indexed the methods used in 247 HIB articles published from 1993 to 2000 in seven international, peer-reviewed journals. Of the 247 articles, 152 articles were found in Library Literature and, of these, only "39 (26%) were indexed by at least one method term" (p. 123). LISA had indexed 178 articles, but even fewer (32 or 19 percent) articles "were indexed by at least one method term" (p. 123). Furthermore, both indexes were found to use terms that are too broad to be helpful to researchers who are searching for articles in which a particular method has been used. These results reveal the challenge of retrieving studies on specific methods.

DEFINITION OF OBSERVATION

Definitions of observation per se are difficult to find in the literature. Gorman and Clayton define observation studies as those that "involve the systematic recording of observable phenomena or behaviour in a natural setting" (2005, p. 40). Other authors define observation within the broader context of ethnography or the narrower one of participation observation. What is consistent in the definitions, however, is the need to study and understand people within their natural environment. Spradley wrote that participation observation "leads to an ethnographic description" (1980, p. vi). He defined ethnography as the "work of describing a culture" with the central aim of understanding "another way of life from the native point of view" (p. 3). Chatman defined ethnography as a method that allows the researcher to get an insider's view through observation and participation "in social settings that reveal reality as lived by members of those settings" (1992, p. 3). Becket and Geer defined participant observation as either a covert or overt activity "in which the observer participates in the daily life of the people under study ... observing things that happen, listening to what is said, and questioning people, over some length of time" (1970, p. 133). To observe people in their natural settings, there are a variety of roles researchers call adopt. The roles and how they have changed over time are described below. Where possible, examples of LIS studies are included.

ROLES OF THE RESEARCHER

Roles have been defined as "the characteristic posture[s] researchers assume in their relationship" with the people whom they are studying (hereafter referred to as "insiders") (Chatman, 1984, p. 429). In his article on roles in field observations, Gold (1958) credited, and expanded on, Buford Junker's typology of four roles researchers can play in their efforts to study and develop relationships with insiders, including complete observer, observer-as-participant, participant-as-observer, and complete participant (p. 217). More recently others, such as Spradley (1980) and Adler and Adler (1994), have proposed slightly different roles or used different terms than did Gold, as will be discussed below.

while Gorman and Clayton described Gold's four roles as "a range of flexible positions in a continuum of participatory involvement" (2005, p. 106), not everyone has to start as a complete observer. The adopted role depends on the problem to be studied, on the insiders' willingness to be studied, and on the researcher's prior knowledge of or involvement in the insiders' world. Going into a new environment may require the researcher to adopt the role of complete observer, whereas studying a group in which she/he is already a member allows the researcher to adopt the complete participant role. What is important is that the researcher assumes an appropriate, fluid role--one that allows her/him to observe intimately the everyday life of the insiders (Chatman, 1984; Carey, McKechnie, & McKenzie, 2001).

Nonparticipation

This role, described by Spradley (1980), involves no level of involvement with insiders. The researcher is not present on the scene but rather can "observe" from an entirely different…