LIHS Mini Master Class

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1 Alexandru Nicusor Matei 2013 CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 Observational methods Dr David Clarke Academic Unit of Elderly Care and Rehabilitation David J Clarke University of Leeds This work is made available for reuse under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- ShareAlike 4.0 International Licence.

2 Aims of the session To provide an overview of observational methods Locate these in questions researchers need to consider With a focus on qualitative research

3 Starting with your research question(s) Why consider observational methods? Perspectives on understanding and reporting on the social world Concern with understanding social contexts, social processes, social practices, work in organisations, behaviours in groups, interactional processes Understanding from the perspective of individuals and groups in particular settings (broadly an emic perspective) Understanding from the perspective of the researcher (broadly an etic perspective)

4 Observational methods Associated with: Anthropology Sociology Psychology But adopted in a wide range of academic disciplines But Philosophical and epistemological positions and methods or techniques of observation will vary across those disciplines What might you observe? Photos: Sam and David Clarke WHO Photo Library- source not identified.

5 Questions for the researcher to address: Non-participant- participant continuum Gaining and sustaining access, informed consent Unstructured to structured observation Alongside other forms of data generation Reflexivity and the researcher s lens Important but for another Mini Master Class Covert observations Analysing observational data Obligations to the participants, ethical issues

6 Questions: Non-participant- participant continuum Continuum of observation: (See typologies of Gold, or Adler&Adler, for example) and also the work of Spradley and or Delamont. Non-participant (complete observer) Observer as participant (peripheral member researcher) Participant as observer (participant researcher) Being present entails some degree of participation Participant observation (complete participant)

7 Gaining and sustaining access Access and gate keepers Ethics and R&D: clarity re focus, processes and consent Entrée: gatekeepers, managers, senior clinicians, individual participants (staff, patients, family members), being open Informed consent: formal written and process consent Reactivity: the impact of the observer, and also observer bias

8 Questions: unstructured to structured observations, another continuum.. It is important to participate enough to be able to write feelingly about the nature of the the work; its pains and pleasures, smells and sounds, physical and mental stresses. [..]. So, participant does not mean doing what those being observed do, but interacting with them while they do it. The researcher may do the same thing but that is not a requirement. (Delamont, 2004, p219) Observations informed but not constrained by: -research questions (a priori and emerging) -prior theoretical and experiential understanding -official texts, operational and expressed norms

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10 Questions: unstructured to structured observations, another continuum.. Behavioural mapping was used to collect outcomes. In brief, every ten minutes researchers (for a period of up to 12 hours) observed the participants, recording a yes or no response on spread-sheets regarding activity (physical, cognitive, social, inactive and alone and/or sleeping). Performance of physical, cognitive and social activity was not mutually exclusive. Observations were made inconspicuously for less than two seconds, with participants first sought by their bedside and then elsewhere within the unit, hospital and then outside. Physical activity included virtually all purposeful physical movement, including:.. Cognitive activity was defined as any non-physical leisure activity that involved active engagement in a mental task including:.. Social activity was defined as any interaction that involved verbal or nonverbal communication such as:. Adapted from Janssen et al (2014) An enriched environment increases activity in stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation in a mixed rehabilitation unit: a pilot non-randomized controlled trial. Disability and Rehabilitation. 36(3):

11 One example of behavioural mapping

12 Observations: Alongside other forms of data collection Commonly: Informal interviewing Formal interviewing Stories and narrative accounts Documentary analysis But can consider data triangulation with: Quantitative survey data Behavioural mapping data

13 Observations and the researcher: turning the analytical lens towards the self Consider and find ways of reporting on: reflexivity: thoughtful, self aware analysis of the inter-subjective dynamics between the researcher and the researched (Finlay & Gough, 2003: ix) includes the researcher s lens: influenced by biography, theoretical commitments

14 Key points Qualitative observational methods have their origins in anthropology but now span academic disciplines; There are a range of ways in which observations can be employed in applied research; Typically these are driven by research questions concerned with describing, understanding and explaining; That is, developing, in-depth, rich and detailed accounts of parts of the social world and the people who live, work and are a part of those social worlds

15 Further Information References and further reading: Adler, P. A. and Adler.P. (1998). Observational Techniques. In: Denzin, N.K. and Lincoln,Y.S. Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials London, Sage: Delamont, S. (2004). Ethnography and Participant Observation. In: Seale,C., Gobo, G., Gubrium,J.F., Silverman,D.(Eds) Qualitative Research Practice.. London, Sage. Finlay, L. and Gough, B. (Eds) (2003) Reflexivity: A practical guide for researchers in health and social sciences. Oxford, Blackwell Science. Gold, R. (1958). Roles in sociological field observations. Social Forces 36: Hammersley, M, Atkinson, P. (2007) Ethnography: principles and practice. 3rd Edition. London, Routledge. Janssen,H., Ada, L., Bernhardt, J. et al (2014) An enriched environment increases activity in stroke patients undergoing rehabilitation in a mixed rehabilitation unit: a pilot non-randomized controlled trial. Disability and Rehabilitation. 36(3): Spradley, J,P. (1980) Participant observation New York : Holt, Rinehart and Winston Wind G. (2008) Negotiated interactive observation: Doing fieldwork in hospital settings. Anthropology & Medicine. 15(2);79-89.

16 Further Information Online QDA: See materials related to ethnography produced by Graham Gibbs and colleagues at the University of Huddersfield. On YouTube: (Gibbs) (Gibbs) A lecture by Penny Harvey, Univ. of Manchester on Ethnography (43 mins with slides)