Lesson 37: Collecting data through observation and interviews

Definition of Observation

Observation is a technique of gathering data whereby you personally watch, interact, or communicate with the subjects of your research. It lets you record what people exactly do and say in their everyday life on Earth. Through this data gathering technique, proofs to support your claims or conclusions about your topic are obtained in a natural setting. Witnessing the subjects manages themselves in a certain situation and interpreting or expressing your thoughts and feelings about your observation, you tend to deal with the observation results in a subjective manner. Some say this element of subjectivity makes observation inferior to other techniques. (Meng 2012)

Types

1. Participant Observation

The observer, who is the researcher, takes part in the activities of the individual or group being observed. Your actual involvement enables you to obtain firsthand knowledge about the subjects’ behavior and the way they interact with one another. To record your findings through this type of observation, use the diary method or logbook. The first part of the diary is called descriptive observation. This initial part of the record describes the people, places, events, conversation, and other things involved in the activity or object focused on by the research. The second part of the diary is called the narrative account that gives your interpretations or reflections about everything you observed.

2. Non-participation or Structured Observation

This type of observation completely detaches you from the target of your observation. You just watch and listen to them do their own thing, without you participating in any of their activities. Recording of nonparticipation observations happens through the use of a checklist. Others call this checklist as an observation schedule.

These two observation types, participation and non-participation, can occur in either of the covert or overt observation models. The first lets you observe the subjects secretly; that is, you need to stay in a place where the subjects don’t get sight of or feel your presence, much less, have the chance to converse with you. The second permits you to divulge things about your research to the participants. (Birks 2014)

Methods of Observation

1. Direct Observation

This observation method makes you see or listen to everything that happens in the area of observation. For instance, things happening in a classroom, court trial, street trafficking, and the like, come directly to your senses. Remember, however, that to avoid waste of energy, time, and effort in observing, you have to stick to the questions that your research aims at answering. What you ought to focus your attention to during the observation is specified by your research problem in general as well as your specific research questions.

2. Indirect Observation

This method is also called behavior archaeology because, here, you observe traces of past events to get information or a measure of behavior, trait, or quality of your subject. Central to this method of observation are things you listen to through tape recordings and those you see in pictures, letter, notices, minutes of meetings, business correspondence, garbage cans, and so on. Indirect observation takes place in the following ways. (Peggs 2013; Maxwell 2012)

Methods of Indirect Observation

1. Continuous Monitoring or CM

Here, you observe to evaluate the way people deal with one another. As such, this is the main data gathering technique used in behavioral psychology, where people’s worries, anxieties, habits, and problems in shopping malls, play areas, family homes, or classrooms serve as the focus of studies in this field of discipline.

2. Spot Sampling

This was done first by behavioral psychologists in 1920 with a focus on researching the extent of children’s nervous habits as they would go through their regular personality development. For a continuous or uninterrupted= focus on the subjects, you record your observations through spot sampling in an oral manner, not in a written way.

Named also as scan sampling or time sampling, spot sampling comes in two types: time allocation (TA) and experience sampling.

• In TA sampling, what goes into the record are the best activities of people you observed in undetermined places and time.

•  Experience sampling, on the other hand, lets you record people’s responses anytime of the day or week to question their present activities, companions, feelings, and so on. Data gathering in this case is facilitated by modern electronic and technological gadgets like cell phone, emails, and other online communication methods or techniques. (Peggs 2013; Ritchie 2014)

Advantages

1.      It uses simple data collection technique and data recording method.

2.      It is inclined to realizing its objectives because it just depends on watching and listening to the subjects without experiencing worries as to whether or not the people will say yes or no to your observation activities.

3.      It offers fresh and firsthand knowledge that will help you come out with an easy understanding and deep reflection of the data.

4.      It is quite valuable in research studies about organizations that consider you, the researcher, a part of such entity.

Disadvantages

1.      It requires a long time for planning.

2.      Engrossed in participating in the subjects’ activities, you may eclipse or neglect the primary role of the research.

3.      It is prone to your hearing derogatory statements from some people in the group that will lead to your biased stand toward other group members.

Interview

Definition

In research, interview is a data gathering technique that makes you verbally ask the subjects or respondents questions to give answers to what your research study is trying to look for. Done mostly in qualitative research studies, interview aims at knowing what the respondents think and feel about the topic of your research.

Traditionally viewed, this data gathering technique occurs between you, the researcher, and your respondents in a face-to-face situation. In this case, you speak directly with your respondent, individually or collectively. On the other hand, by using electronic and technological communication devices like the Internet, mobile phones, e-mail, etc., interview can be considered as a modern tool of research. All in all, be it a traditional or a modern type of interview, “it is a conversation with a purpose” that gives direction to the question-answer activity between the interviewer and the interviewee. (Babbie 2014, 137; Rubin 2011)

Types

1. Structured Interview

This is an interview that requires the use of an interview schedule or a list of questions answerable with one and only item from a set of alternative responses. Choosing one answer from the given set of answers, the respondents are barred from giving answers that reflect their own thinking or emotions about the topic. You, the researcher, are completely pegged at the interview schedule or prepared list of questions.

2. Unstructured Interview

In this type of interview, the respondents answer the questions based on what they personally think and feel about it. There are no suggested answers. They purely depend on the respondents’ decision-making skills, giving them opportunity to think critically about the question.

3. Semi-Structured Interview

The characteristics of the first two types are found in the third type of interview called semi-structured interview. Here, you prepare a schedule or a list of questions that is accompanied by a list of expressions from where the respondents can pick out the correct answer. However, after choosing one from the suggested answers, the respondents answer another set of questions to make them explain the reasons behind their choices. Allowing freedom for you to change the questions and for the respondents to think of their own answers, this semi-structured interview is a flexible and an organized type of interview. (Rubin 2012; Bernard 2013)

Approaches

1. Individual Interview

Only one respondent is interviewed here. The reason behind this one on-one interview is the lack of trust the interviewees have among themselves. One example of this is the refusal of one interviewee to let other interviewees get a notion of or hear his or her responses to the questions. Hence, he or she prefers to have an individual interview separate from the rest. This is a time-consuming type of interview because you have to interview a group of interviewees one by one.

2. Group Interview

In this interview approach, you ask the question not to one person, but to a group of people at the same time. The group members take turns in answering the question. This approach is often used in the field of business, specifically in marketing research. Researchers in this field, whose primary aim in adhering to this interview approach is to know people’s food preferences and consumer opinions; they also call this as focus group interview. The chances of having some respondents getting influenced by the other group members are one downside of this interview approach. (Denzin 2013; Feinberd 2013)

3. Mediated Interview

No face-to-face interview is true for this interview approach because this takes place through electronic communication devices such as telephones, mobile phones, email, among others. Though mediated interview disregards non-verbal communication (e.g., bodily movements, gestures, facial expressions, feelings, eye contact, etc.), many, nonetheless, consider this better because of the big number of respondents it is capable of reaching despite the cost, distance, and human disabilities affecting the interview.

It is a synchronous mediated interview if you talk with the subjects through the telephone, mobile phone, or online chat and also find time to see each other. It is asynchronous if only two persons are interviewed at a different time through the Internet, email, Facebook, Twitter, and other social network media. (Goodwin 2014; Barbour 2014)

Steps in Conducting an Interview

Step 1: Getting to Know Each Other

The interview starts from the time you, the interviewer, and your respondents see each other at the place of interview, that is, if this is a traditional interview. Naturally, seeing each other for the first time, your tendency would be to talk with each other to establish friendship and a relaxed mood for both of you. Although, in some cases, the place is your respondent’s residence, you have to show signs of appreciation and respect for the chosen venue of the interview. Your warm acknowledgement for each other must lead you to discussing several aspects of the interview such as where you have to do it, how comfortable both of you should be, and how long should the question-and-answer activity be.

Step 2: Having an Idea of the Research

This second step requires you to tell the respondents about the nature of the interview—its purpose, importance, scope, and so on. Telling them of these salient features of the activity enables them to anticipate not only the kind of questions they will get to face, but also the appropriate answers they will give. Things pertaining to the confidential treatment of responses are also tackled in this second step of interview. It is also in this period when you have to stress the idea to the respondents that the interview is for you to know and hear their own views and to let them express their own understanding of the topic of the question in their own words.

Step 3: Starting the Interview

You open this step with a question to encourage the respondent to talk about himself or herself, including his or her age, family, current activities, and other things you think appear special or interesting to him or her. Following these self-introduction questions are questions on the subject’s thoughts, attitudes, or performance of his or her job or any current work assignment. The respondent’s answers do not only help you get some clues on his or her ways or techniques of responding to interview questions, but also give you hints on the right ways to ask your subjects the questions that will elicit the right data for your research.

Step 4: Conducting the Interview Proper

Interview questions in this step are on the interviewee’s open and extensive talking of things related to the research theme or research questions and on those anticipated by him/her or emanating from his/her explanations, descriptions, or narrations of things. Open or unstructured questions asked in this step of the interview aim at investigating the respondent’s interests and eliciting substantial or profuse responses to questions. In asking a battery of questions, you see to it that you stick to the main point of your study, to the proper phrasing of questions, and to the sufficient time allotted for answering each question.

List down on a piece of paper all questions you plan to ask your respondent and call this list of prepared questions schedule. This helps you construct or phrase your questions properly and enables you to foretell possible answers. In addition, using a schedule gives you the opportunity to make changes on the questions to adjust them to some inevitable circumstances caused by the respondent’s human nature. Lastly, this step of the interview, where you ask a number of questions in relation to your research problem is your time to determine how you should label the responses with codes and present them with a certain style like graphical or narrative presentation technique.

Step 5: Putting an End to the Interview

Signs of the approaching end of the interview work to alert the respondent in winding up with his or her talking. For instance, using words expressing your decision, wish, or attempt to ask the very last question serves as a clue for the respondent to think that the interview is nearing its end. This step also reminds you of your responsibility to let the respondent be free in airing whatever doubts or questions he or she has about the research design, method, interview time, and other aspects of the interview.

Step 6: Pondering Over Interview Afterthoughts

This last step of the interview gives the respondent the opportunity to ask questions about the interview activity and let him or her have an idea about what will happen next to the interview results. (Denzin 2013; Bernard 2013; Rubin 2012)

Questionnaire

A questionnaire is a paper containing a list of questions including the specific place and space in the paper where you write the answers to the questions. This prepared set of questions elicits factual or opinionated answers from the respondent’s through his or her acts of checking one chosen answer from several options or of writing on a line provided for any opinionated answer. (Babbie 2013)

Purposes of a Questionnaire

1.      To discover people’s thoughts and feelings about the topic of the research

2.      To assist you in conducting an effective face-to-face interview with your respondents

3.      To help you plan how to obtain and record the answers to your questions

4.      To make the analysis, recording, and coding of data easier and faster

Types of Questionnaire

1. Postal questionnaire

As the name connotes, this type of questionnaire goes to the respondent through postal service or electronic mail. It is through the mail or postal system that the accomplished questionnaires will be sent back to the researchers. In some cases, the researcher can personally collect finished questionnaires.

2. Self-administered questionnaire

This kind of questionnaire makes you act as the interviewer and the interviewee at the same time. First, you ask the questions either in person or through phone; then, you will be writing the interviewee’s answers on a piece of paper. A questionnaire like this fits a structured kind of interview. (Barbour 2014)

Advantages and Disadvantages of a Questionnaire

Advantages

1.      It is cheap as it does not require you to travel to hand the questionnaires to a big number of respondents in faraway places.

2.      It entails an easy distribution to respondents.

3.      It offers more opportunity for the respondents to ponder on their responses.

4.      It enables easy comparison of answers because of a certain degree of uniformity among the questions.

5.      It has the capacity to elicit spontaneous or genuine answers from the respondents.

Disadvantages

1.      There is a possibility that some questions you distributed do not go back to you, and this prevents you from getting the desired rate of response.

2.      Confusing and uninteresting questions to respondents fail to elicit the desired responses.

3.      Owing to individual differences between the selected subjects and those in the population, in general, the questionnaire is hard up in obtaining unbiased results to represent the characteristics of the target population.

4.      It prevents you from being with the respondents physically to help them unlock some difficulties in their understanding of the questions.