Business Project Nicos Rodosthenous PhD 02/12/ /12/20141Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation 1. Introduction The aim of this chapter is to mention the importance of looking in research and to examine some of the specific observational methods. 2. The nature and purpose of observational research  Observation involves looking but sometimes there is no involvement with the observed, who may not even be aware that is being observed. 02/12/20142Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation 2.1. Forms of observation 1)Structured observation: process with written rules about what should be observed, how often etc. (like questionnaire survey) 2)Unstructured observation: observer seeks to describe interest and develop explanations in the process. (like informal in-depth interview) 3)Contrived observation: researcher intervenes to change and observes what happens (experimental research) 02/12/20143Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation 4) Participant observation: researcher is a participant of the study (guide of a tour) 3. Situations for observational research  Children’s play: involves issues of preferred types of equipment according to the age, if boys have different patterns of play from girls. Answers to these questions can not be found by interviewing young children. The obvious approach is to observe children at play and record their behavior. 02/12/20144Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation  Usage of informal leisure/tourism areas: involves recreation areas, such as beaches, parks and tourists sites where there is no admission charge.  Spatial and functional use of sites: observation is useful not only for gathering data on the number of a site but also for studying the way people make use of a site.  User profile: surveys involve demographic and group composition data which combine to provide a ‘user profile’. 02/12/20145Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation Example, two music venues with different type of music could attract different people, in terms of age, fashion and lifestyle.  Deviant behavior: covers activities such as recreational drugs; graffiti and vandalism; various types of sexual activity; gambling etc.  Consumer/incognito testing: referred to as mystery shopping, to play the role of a user/customer/observer.  Complementary research: involves counts of users in 02/12/20146Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation order to be a necessary complement to interview surveys to correct variation in sampling rates. (i.e. provide data to give a weight to the mid-day and afternoon users)  Everyday life: observing everyday life as an approach to study a society’s activities, such as pinball, bars, card games and restaurants.  Social behavior: observation is used in sociological research to develop ideas and theories about social behavior on soccer fans, police and media. 02/12/20147Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation 4. Main elements of observational research.  Step 1. Choice of site: for consultancy research the site is fixed; but for leisure and tourism it will provide suitable conditions for observation.  Step 2. Choice of observation point: some sites can be observed from one spot only and others with a circuit of viewing spots.  Step 3. Choice of observation time-period: observation for all time-periods may be very demanding in terms of resources, so some form of sampling of time-periods will usually be necessary. 02/12/20148Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation  Step 4. Continuous observation or sampling: it is related to the resources available and the nature of the site and the over all design of the project. i.e. continuous counts or spot counts of the number of visitors to the site.  Step 5. Count frequency: when counts of users are involved, how often should the counts be undertaken? 02/12/20149Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation 02/12/201410Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation  Step 6. What to observe: one approach is to record people’s positions directly as indicated in fig It is also possible to distinguish between senior citizens, teenagers, young adults and elderly persons.  Step 7. Division of site into zones: Large sites are divided into areas or zones and record the number of people and their activities as indicated in figures 7.7 and 7.8. for example, sports areas and children’s playground. 02/12/201411Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation 02/12/201412Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation 02/12/201413Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation  Step 8. Recording observational information: the data collected are ideal for storage and presentation in graphic form using a spreadsheet computer program.  Step 9. Conducting the observation: observer must observe and describe what is going on at the site and engage with the research questions of the project to be recorded. 02/12/201414Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation  Step 10. Analyzing data: data must be analyzed and processed to present useable results in three ways:  1) Usage patterns: relates the numbers of people present in a park which opens from 8 am to 7 pm as illustrated in fig  2) Estimating usage numbers: it is estimated in the example an average 94.3 people in the park over 12 hour period, with total 1,132 visitor- hours. 02/12/201415Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation 02/12/201416Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation  3) Unstructured analysis: set of notes with numbers and diagrams readable for future reference. 5. Photography and video  Aerial photography: is used in large areas such as coastlines where access is difficult.  Still photography : a picture paints a thousand words. A photo-essay composed a number of themes or messages and convey simple research findings. 02/12/201417Dr Nicos Rodosthenous

Collecting primary data through observation  Video: it can be used to record patterns of use of a site, before and after situations, i.e. congestion, erosion or littering rather than analytical purposes.  Just looking: it is important to use our eyes in research among a group of people than the use of questionnaires. The good researcher is all eyes. 02/12/201418Dr Nicos Rodosthenous