Observations contextual inquiry CSCI 4163/6610 WINTER 2014 Observations contextual inquiry

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Interviews are: Verbally asking participants questions Hearing their point of view in their own words Both A & B d) Neither A nor B

Which type of interview allows you to probe participants’ responses? Structured Unstructured Semi-Structured D) Unstructured and Semi-Structured

Which type of interview allows you to quantitatively compare responses? Structured Unstructured Semi-Structured D) Structured and Semi-Structured

Active listening is… Making a conscious effort to hear the words a person is saying Making an effort to understand the complete message being sent Paying attention to the other person very carefully D) All of the above

Observation Exercise Research topic: Rituals of on-line information seeking behaviour Questions: What types of information sources are regularly checked? Is it a push or pull paradigm? What is the frequency? What prompts a session to begin? How long does a session usually last? What brings a session to an end (time? Information found? All sources seen?)? Is there multi-tasking?

Observation Watching people, programs, events, communities, etc. Used to: Provide information about real-life situations and circumstances Assess what is happening Valuable because you cannot rely on participants’ willingness and ability to furnish information

When is observation useful? When you want direct information When you are trying to understand an ongoing behaviour or process When there is physical evidence, products, or outcomes that can be readily seen When other data collection methods seem inappropriate

Observations Advantages Disadvantages Most direct measure of behavior Provides direct information Easy to complete (?) Saves time (?) Can be used in natural or experimental settings May require training Observer’s presence may create artificial situation Potential for bias Potential to overlook meaningful aspects Potential for misinterpretation Difficult to analyze

(If unobtrusive…) Can see things in their natural context Can see things that may escape conscious awareness, things that are not seen by others Can discover things that may have been taken for granted Can learn about things that people might not be willing to talk about Low potential for generating observer effects

Major limitations Potential for bias Reliability Observer bias Cultural bias (during observation and interpretation) Reliability Ease of categorization Often used in combination with other methods to provide a more thorough account

Types of observation Structured (looking for) Unstructured (looking at) Observing what does not happen may be as important as observing what does happen

Planning Determine who/what to observe Determine what aspects will be observed (characteristics, attributes, behaviours, etc.) Determine when/where observations will be made Develop the observation record sheet Pilot test the observation record sheet Train the observers, practice Collect information, analyze and interpret

Observations need to be credible Observation guide Recording sheet Checklist Field notes Pictures Video Some combination of the above

Ecological validity Is what you are observing representative of usual behaviours? Unobtrusive? Task? Setting? Tools?

If unobtrusive… Can be hard to understand why….

Today’s reading What was the motivation? What were the research questions? What was their approach? Critique their study (what was good? What was bad?) Recruitment, running the study, analysis Do you think that their findings are valid? What would you do differently if you wanted to replicate/extend this research?

Contextual inquiry Interviewees are interviewed in their context, when doing their tasks, with as little interference from the interviewer as possible. Allows probing of “why?” Can be real-time or record interesting actions for later discussion

“Typical” 4 phased approach Traditional interview Get an overview, establish trust, start recording Switch to a master-apprentice relationship Tell them what you want to observe Make sure to establish when ok to interrupt Observe, ask questions Take notes Balance need to understand with impact of interruptions Summarization Go over observations and your understanding with participant Make sure that you go it right

Other ways of providing context If natural observation not possible, can ask them to demonstrate specific tasks of interest Can provide task scenarios and ask them to perform “Think aloud” aloud protocols

Other ways of getting observational data Logging Screen recording (check out Camtasia) Trace data

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