1. Chapter 8 Observation Studies
This chapter provides coverage on conducting observation studies.
McGraw-Hill/Irwin
Copyright © 2011 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 

2. Learning Objectives Understand . . .
When observation studies are most useful.
Distinctions between monitoring. nonbehavioral and behavioral activities
Strengths of the observation approach in research design.
Weaknesses of the observation approach in research design.

3. Learning Objectives Understand . . .
Three perspectives from which the observer-participant relationship may be viewed.
Various designs of observation studies.

4. How Our Brain Works “Once a pattern becomes predictable, the
brain starts to ignore it. We get bored;
attention is a scare resource, so why waste
it on something that’s perfectly predictable.”
Jonah Lehrer
neuroscientist and author,
How We Decide

5. PulsePoint: Research Revelation3
The number of minutes the average cubicle dweller works before being interrupted by phone, , instant message, or social networking activities.
See the text Instructors Manual (downloadable from the text website) for ideas for using this research-generated statistic.

6. Observation and the Research Process
Exhibit 8-1 depicts the use of observation in the research process.

7. Selecting the Data Collection Method
Exhibit 8-2

8. Selecting an Observation Data Collection Approach
Exhibit 8-3 illustrates the selection of an observation data collection approach. This is discussed further on the following slide.

9. Research Design Task Details Who? What? Where? (event or time) How?
The data collection plan specifies the details of the task.
Who? The plan must specify what qualifies a person to participate as a subject of the observation. It must also assign responsibilities on the research side.
What? The characteristics of the observation must be set as sampling elements and units of analysis. This is achieved when event-time dimension and “act” terms are defined. In event sampling, the researcher selects certain elements, behavioral acts, or conditions to record that answer the investigative questions. In time sampling, the researcher must choose among a time-point sample, continuous real-time measurement, or a time-interval sample. For a time-point sample, recording occurs at fixed points for a specified length. Time-interval sampling records every behavior in real time but counts the behavior only once during the interval. What constitutes an “act” depends on the study. For instance, acts could include a single expressed thought, a physical movement, a facial expression, or a motor skill.
When? When specifies whether the time of the study is important, and if so, what time period will be used.
How? Will the data be observed directly? How will various situations be handled? How will data be recorded?
Where does the act take place?
How?
When?

10. Observation Location
The Lexus ad agency Team One Advertising used observation during the NY auto show. Refer to instructor’s manual Snapshot Lexus: The Winning Reaction.

11. Content of Observation
Factual
Inferential
Introduction/identification of salesperson and customer.
Credibility of salesperson. Qualified status of customer.
Time and day of week.
Convenience for the customer. Welcoming attitude of the customer
Product presented.
Customer interest in product.
Selling points presented per product.
Customer acceptance of selling points of product.
Number of customer objections raised per product.
Customer concerns about features and benefits.
Salesperson’s rebuttal of objection.
Effectiveness of salesperson’s rebuttal attempts.
Salesperson’s attempt to restore controls.
Effectiveness of salesperson’s control attempt.
Consequences for customer who prefers interaction.
Length of interview.
Customer’s/salesperson’s degree of enthusiasm for the interview.
Environmental factors interfering with the interview.
Level of distraction for the customer.
Customer purchase decision.
General evaluation of sale presentation skill.
Exhibit 8-6

12. Data Collection Watching Listening Touching Smelling Reading
Besides collecting data visually, observation involves listening, reading, smelling, and touching.
Refer back to Exhibit 8-2, which describes the conditions under which observation is appropriate.

13. Using Observation Systematic planning Properly controlled
Consistently dependable
Simple observation is unstructured and not standardized.
Systematic observation is structured and uses standardized procedures to observe participants or objects.
Observation may be the primary methodology used to answer a research question when it is systematically planned and executed, uses proper controls, and provides a consistently dependable (reliable) and accurate and authoritative (valid) account of what happened.
Accurate account of events

14. Observation Classification
Nonbehavioral
Physical condition analysis
Process or Activity analysis
Record analysis
Behavioral
Nonverbal
Linguistic
Extralinguistic
Spatial
Observation includes the full range of monitoring behavioral and nonbehavioral activities and conditions. These can be classified as behavioral and nonbehavioral observations.
Nonverbal observation is the most prevalent and refers to recording physical actions or movements of participants. These behaviors can be measured with the human eye and with several mechanical or digital devices. These devices are discussed on the following slide.
Linguistic observation is the observation of human verbal behavior during conversation, presentation, or interaction.
Extralinguistic observation is the recording of vocal, temporal, interaction, and verbal stylistic behaviors of human participants. It is discussed further on slide
Spatial observation is the recording of how humans physically relate to one another.
Nonbehavioral observation is the observation of the effects or traces of prior actions or of nonhuman activity. Physical condition analysis is the recording of observations of current conditions resulting from prior decisions.
Process (activity) analysis is observation by a time study of stages in a process, evaluated on both effectiveness and efficiency.
Record analysis is the extraction of data from current or historical records. Data mining is a type of record analysis, which is discussed further in the slide show.

15. Selecting an Observation Data Collection Approach … Nonbehavioral

16. Nonbehavioral Observation
Record
Analysis
Physical Condition
Analysis
Record analysis…think data mining…is a common nonbehavioral observation. What you are looking at is an accounting software report relating to late payments of customers, but such observation could as easily be looking at a defect report from operations, a record of sick days in human resources, a promotions sales-lift report, or many others that firms—large and small—generate on a regular basis.
Physical condition analysis might relate to a safety audit or an analysis of inventory conditions or an analysis of food preparation areas in a restaurant. Building inspectors do physical condition analyses when they allow a builder to progress to the next phase of construction following an inspection of plumbing, wiring, etc.
Process analysis started with time-motion studies in manufacturers, but today relates to any organization that tracks time related to activity or process steps and stages. Some examples include: banks (ATMs resulted from such a process analysis), merchandise retailers (e-commerce sites are constantly evaluating abandon carts), restaurants, medical practices, and architects use such nonbehavioral evaluations.
Physical Process
Analysis

17. Selecting an Observation Data Collection Approach… Behavioral
Exhibit 8-3, cropped to behavioral observation elements

18. Wal-Mart Implements RFID Labels
Radio Frequency Identification tags tracks various information about a product. For instance, Wal-Mart is using the technology to track inventory, location of customers, and when a product is actually used. This is an example of nonbehavioral observation.

19. RFID Changes Monitoring
“We can certainly understand and appreciate
consumer concern about privacy. That’s why we
want our customers to know that RFID tags will
not contain nor collect any additional data about
our customers. In fact in the foreseeable future,
there won’t even be any RFID readers on our
stores’ main sales floors.”
Linda Dillman
EVP & Chief Information Officer
Wal-Mart

20. Behavioral Observation
“We noticed people scraping the toppings off our pizza crusts. We thought at first there was something wrong, but they said, ‘We love it, we just don’t eat the crust anymore.”
Tom Santor,
Donatos Pizza
Donatos Pizza discovered something about consumer preferences from simple observation of human behavior.

21. Systematic Observation
Standardized procedures
Structured
Trained observers
Systematic
Encoding observation information
Recording schedules
Systematic studies employ standardized procedures, trained observers, schedules for recording, and other devices for the observer that reflect the scientific procedures of other primary data methods.

22. Flowchart for Observation Checklist Design
Exhibit 8-5

23. Mechanical/ Digital Behavioral Observation
Video camera
Pupilometer
Audio recorder
Devices
Eye camera
Tachistoscope
Researchers can use their eyes to record behavioral observations but some things cannot be adequately observed with the human eye. Several mechanical devices are used to record behavioral observations.
The most commonly used devices are the video camera and audio recorder.
The galvanometer is a device that measures excitement, arousal, fear, or heightened physiological response to stimuli. It does this by measuring electrical activity in the participant’s skin. They are most used in advertising research.
The eye camera and pupilometer are device that attach to a person’s forehead. When a participant is shown various stimuli, the researcher can measure the movement of the eye and the dilation of the pupil in the eye. For example, during an episode of a television program, one can match the eye movement precisely with what one is watching on the screen.
The tachistoscope is a timed shutter device that exposes a participant to some stimulus for a controlled period of time. Historically, it has been used to substantiate the effects of subliminal advertising.
Galvanometer

24. Body Measurement System
SizeUSA
Body Measurement System
SizeUSA developed a three-dimensional scaling system for the human body. It is being used to take body measurements that are and will be used in product design for clothing, cars, airline seats, and more.

25. Portable People Meters
Nielsen Media Research collects some of its television viewer data with electronic devices labeled people meters. The people meter measures the tuning state of the TV set, what channel is being tuned, and who is watching.
Nielsen has been testing a Portable People Meter, which is shown in the slide. Participants carry the meter wherever they go. The meter records signals from media companies. The data transferred back to Nielsen when the participant returns home and docks the device.

26. Observer-Participant Relationship
Direct vs. indirect
Known vs. unknown
Communication with a participant presents a clear opportunity for interviewer bias. The problem is less pronounced with observation but is still real. The relationship between observer and participant may be viewed from three perspectives:
Whether the observation is direct or indirect
Whether the observer’s presence is known or unknown to the participant, and
What role the observer plays in the events or effects of events recorded.
Direct observation occurs when the observer is physically present and personally monitors what takes place.
Indirect observation occurs when the recording is done by mechanical, photographic, or electronic means.
When the observer is known, there is a risk of atypical activity by the participant.
Concealment shields the observer from the participant to avoid error caused by the observer’s presence.
A modified approach involves partial concealment. The presence of the observer is not concealed, but the objectives are.
The third issue is whether the observer should participate in the situation while observing. Mystery shopping is an example of observer-participation.
In this situation…direct, unknown, uninvolved
Involved vs. uninvolved

27. Extralinguistic Observation
Vocal
Temporal
Interaction
Linguistic observation is the observation of human verbal behavior during conversation, presentation, or interaction. Extralinguistic observation, the focus of this slide, is the recording of vocal, temporal, interaction, and verbal stylistic behaviors of human participants. Vocal behaviors include pitch, loudness, and timbre.
Temporal behaviors include the rate of speaking, duration of utterance, and rhythm.
Interaction includes the tendencies to interrupt, dominate, or inhibit.
Verbal stylistic behaviors include vocabulary and pronunciation peculiarities, dialect, and characteristic expressions.
Ronald Reagan was lauded for his command of extralinguistic behavior.
Verbal Stylistic

28. Desired Characteristics for Observers
Concentration
Detail-oriented
Unobtrusive
There are a few general guidelines for the qualification and selection of observers.
Observers should have the ability to function in a setting full of distractions (concentration).
They should have the ability to remember details of an experience (detail-oriented).
They should have the ability to blend with the setting and not be distinctive (unobtrusive).
Finally, observers should have the ability to extract the most from an observation study (experience level).
For studies using direct observation with a simple checklist, prior experience is less important.
Instructors have the ads from the Akron Children’s Hospital case on the Online Learning Center. The footage in the commercials was the footage captured in the observation.
Experience level

29. Errors Introduced by Observers
Halo Effect
Observer Drift
Inexperience can be an advantage if there is a risk that experienced observers may have preset convictions about the topic or if prior observations will influence what is perceived in a current observation. This is called the halo effect.
Observers can also introduce error when fatigued, which can result in observer drift. Observer drift is error caused by decay in consistency and accuracy on recorded observations over time, affecting categorization.

30. Evaluation of Behavioral Observation
Strengths
Securing information that is otherwise unavailable
Avoiding participant filtering/ forgetting
Securing environmental context
Optimizing naturalness
Reducing obtrusiveness
Weaknesses
Enduring long periods
Incurring higher expenses
Having lower reliability of inferences
Quantifying data
Keeping large records
Being limited on knowledge of cognitive processes
This slide lists the strengths and limitations of observation as a data collection method. Observation is the only method available for gathering certain types of information. Another advantage is that it can capture the whole event as it occurs in its natural environment. Observation participants seem to accept an observational intrusion better than they respond to the intrusion of survey takers. Further, some observation studies are concealed
A key limitation of observation is that it records what, where, who, and how, but cannot record why people behave as they do. Observation is slow and expensive. Observation may be factual or inferential. It is most reliable when it is based on fact. Exhibit 9-4, shown on the next slide, shows how we can separate the factual and inferential component of a salesperson’s presentation.

31. Key Terms Concealment Event sampling Halo effect Observation Direct
Extralinguistic
Indirect
Linguistic
Nonverbal
Participant
Simple
Spatial
Systematic

32. Key Terms Observation checklist Observer drift
Physical condition analysis
Physical trace
Process (activity) analysis
Reactivity response
Record analysis
Spatial Relationships
Time sampling
Unobtrusive measures