• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Construction Engineering
    • Civil Engineering Construction
    • Plain & Reinforced Concrete-II
    • Civil Engineering Estimation
    • Engineering Materials
    • Structural Engineering
  • Mechanics
    • Mechanics of Solids 1
    • Mechanics of Solids 2
    • Soil Mechanics 1
    • Soil Mechanics 2
  • Survey
    • Surveying and Levelling
    • Surveying and Levelling 2
  • Environmental Engineering
    • Environmental Engineering
    • Environmental psychology
    • Environment planning
    • Environmental Design
  • Water Engineering
    • Fluid Mechanics 1
    • Fluid Mechanics 2
    • Hydraulic Engineering
    • Irrigation Engineering
    • Engineering Hydrology
  • Misc.
    • Pavement and Foundation
    • Engineering Geology
    • Theory of structures
    • Design of Structures
    • Steel Structures
    • Research methodology
    • Transportation Engineering
    • Contact Us

Civil Engineering Terms

Easy and Understandable Terms Related to Civil Engineering

You are here: Home / Research methodology / Observation as a primary source of data collection in a research study

Observation as a primary source of data collection in a research study

September 1, 2015 by admin Leave a Comment

Observation

Observation is one way to collect primary data. It is a purposeful way of watching and listening to an interaction or phenomenon as it takes place.

Types of observations

There are two types:

  1. Participant.
  2. Non Participant.

Participant

When the researcher participates in the activities of the group being observed in the same manner as its members. Members may know or do not know that they are being observed.

For example:

  1. You might want to study the life of prisoners. In order to do this you pretend to be a prisoner.
  2. You might want to study the reactions of general population towards people in wheel chairs. You can study their reactions by sitting in a wheel chair yourself.

Non participant

When the researcher does not participate in the activities of the group being observed but remains a passive observer.

For example:

  1. You might want to study the functions carried out by nurses in a hospital. As an observer watch, follow and record the activities they performed. After making observations, results can be drawn from them. Similarly, you can do this in any other occupation.

Situations in which observation can be made

Situations can be:

  • Natural: Observing a group in its natural operation without intervening in their activities is classified as natural conditions.
  • Controlled: Introducing a stimulus to the group for it to react and then observing the reaction is classified as controlled conditions.

Advantages of using observation as a method of data collection

There are many situations when observation is an appropriate tool for data collection. For example:

  1. When you want to learn about interaction in a group.
  2. Study the dietary patterns of a population.
  3. Ascertain the functions performed by a worker.
  4. Study the behavior or personality traits of an individual.
  5. It is also useful in situations where full information cannot be received by questioning.
  6. Because respondents either are not co operative or unaware of the answers.
  7. When subjects are so involved in the interaction that they are unable to provide objective information about it.
  8. In short, when you are more interested in behavior rather than their perception, observation is the best approach to collect information.

Limitations while using observation as a method of data collection

Using observation as a method of data collection may suffer from a number of problems. But it does not mean that all these problems or any of these necessarily present in every situation. But as a beginner you should be aware of these problems.

Changing of behavior when a group become aware

When a person or a group become aware that they are being observed. Then they may change their behavior. Depending upon the situation this change could be positive or negative. It may increase or decrease their productivity.

When a person or a group become aware they are being observed and they change their behavior due to this, it is known as Hawthorne effect.

The use of observation in such a situation does not represent their actual behavior.

Observer bias

There is always a possibility of observer bias. If observer is bias then he can easily introduce bias. Then there is no easy way to verify observations and inferences drawn from them.

Interpretation may vary

Interpretations drawn from observation may vary from observer to observer.

Possibility of incomplete observation

There is always a possibility of incomplete observation or recording. This varies with the method of recording. An observer may watch keenly but at the expense of detailed recording. Another problem which may occur when the observer takes detailed notes, but while doing this misses some of the interaction.

Filed Under: Research methodology

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Sponsors

Recent Posts

  • Brick calculator | Brickwork calculation and brick estimation
  • Los Angeles Abrasion test | Test for road aggregates
  • Shuttering removal time of different structural members
  • Weight of steel bars per meter – Weight of steel bars formula
  • How to calculate quantity of mortar and its materials
  • Specifications of First class brickwork
  • Properties of first class bricks

Pages

  • About CivilEngineeringTerms
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Submit your article or Ask any query

Categories

  • Articles
  • Civil Engg Construction and Graphics
  • Civil Engg Construction and Graphics
  • Civil Engineering Construction
  • Civil Engineering Estimation
  • Civil Engineering Practice
  • Construction management
  • Design of Structures
  • Engineering Geology
  • Engineering Hydrology
  • Engineering Materials
  • Environment planning and practice
  • Environmental Engineering 1
  • Environmental psychology
  • Fluid Mechanics 1
  • Fluid Mechanics 2
  • General Terms related to Civil Engineering
  • Hydraulic Engineering
  • Introduction to Environmental Design
  • Mechanics of Solids 1
  • Mechanics of Solids 2
  • Pavement and Foundation
  • Plain & Reinforced Concrete-II
  • Research methodology
  • Soil Mechanics 1
  • Soil Mechanics 2
  • Steel Structures
  • Structural Engineering
  • Surveying and Levelling
  • Surveying and Levelling 2
  • Theory of structures 1
  • Transportation Engineering
  • Water Resources & Irrigation Engineering

Site Stats

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in