Observation involves recording the behaviours of audience members while they take part in an activity e.g. participating in a workshop, watching a science show, exploring an exhibition. The behaviours recorded can include:
Performance of tasks e.g. making something in a workshop, operating an interactive exhibit, navigating a website. You can record the percentage successfully completing these tasks; problems people encounter; how long it takes them; and so on
Social interactions e.g. conversations, pointing, calling people over, helping others with a task. You can record the percentage of people taking part in such interactions; how often they occur; when they occur; how long they last etc
Movements around a space e.g. exploring an exhibition; journey through a website
Emotional responses e.g. smiling, laughing, looking distracted or frustrated. These can be judged through facial expressions, body language or overheard comments
Observation can be conducted from a fixed position or you can follow someone as they move about a space. Observations can be conducted unobtrusively from a distance or up close where overheard conversations can be overheard.
Observation can be used in both quantitative research - a small amount of data collected from a lot of people; and qualitative research - large amounts of data collected from a small number of people.
Pros and cons of observation
Observation enables you to record what people actually do, as opposed to what they remember, or are willing to admit to doing. It also provides a more accurate assessment of how long people spend doing something, than you would obtain from self-reports. And observation allows you to record what people overlook or ignore for example controls on an interactive exhibit that they do not notice, areas of a website they never enter.
However, observation also has weaknesses compared to methods such as interviews, surveys and focus groups. If people know they are being observed, they will change their behaviour. Typically, they will spend longer, pay more attention, and try hard to complete tasks. This does not invalidate the observational data, but it does mean that some metrics are not reliable – especially time spent on a task.
Observation data can be difficult to record. You need to be pragmatic about the amount and type of data you capture. Data can be recorded using handwritten notes; by the observer recording a spoken commentary on a Dictaphone; or using a video-camera. However, each has limitations. Hand-written notes can only capture a small amount of data and requires the observe to split their attention between the recording sheet and the person being observed. It is easy to miss something while you are writing down notes or ticking boxes.
Video recording captures a vast amount of data and in a form that allows for in depth analysis. However, the people being observe must give their explicit permission before you start recording. For more on this see What is GDPR and how does it affect my evaluation?
Recording an audio commentary allows you to keep your eyes on the person being observed but you will need to be far enough away that you voice does not distract them.
Collecting observational data
The range of behaviours that could be recorded is enormous. So it is vital to identified those most relevant to your research objectives before you start collecting data.
If you are recording data by hand, you need a simple observation sheet listing the key behaviours you need to record, along with an easy and quick way of recording how many people did them, how often and when.
When recording data on a Dictaphone have a list of the key behaviours to look out for, printed on one side of A4. That way you can quickly glance at the list while you are observing to remind yourself of what to record.
If you are using video recordings, you must obtain the permission of the people you are filming. When asking for their permission you must clearly state:
- Why you are collecting the data
- That the video footage will only be used for this purpose
- It will be deleted after you have finished analysing it
- That people can withdraw their consent at any time – and if they do this any recording of them will be deleted there and then
For more on this see What is GDPR and how does it affect my evaluation?
To find out about how analysing the data you have collected see How to analyse data from observations