Definition
• It refers to collecting data without interfering with the ongoing behavior.
• Observation relies on information available to the senses i.e. sight, hearing, touch etc.
• participants are carefully observed in their natural setting without interference by the researchers. Examples:
(a) an anthropologist unnoticeably observing wild gorillas.
(b) a researcher sitting in a fast food restaurant and observing the eating habits of men vs. women.
Naturalistic observation entails
•
•
•
•
•
•
Goal/objective
The Observation
Data
Analysis
Hypothesis
Procedures
Goal
Allows you to study the phenomenon of eye contact by means of a naturalistic observation. Eye contact is an important aspect of nonverbal communication. After this, you should develop a better understanding of what a naturalistic observation entails. Remember, the researcher is not to interact with the participants in the study.
The Observation
• Example, select 4 males and 4 females to observe.
• Use some type of random selection process. You may observe people in the cafeteria or in class.
They must be interacting with others.
• Observe each person for two minutes, recording with a slash every 10 seconds what behavior they are demonstrating (see chart below).
• Be sure the subjects do not know you are making observations. Data
• Record data below in the chart.
• Determine percentages for each category.
Male 1
Eye
contact
Looking
Away
Looking
at a
Thing
Female 1
Male 1
Female 1
Male 1
Female 1
Male 1
Female 1
%M
%F
Analysis
Write a brief summary of the observations that were recorded on your data sheets. This should include: • observed reactions
• conclusions about eye contact, and
• concerns that you had during the observation regarding factors that may have influenced your results.
Hypothesis
• From your observations, formulate a hypothesis regarding eye contact.
Procedures
• How would you improve your procedure if you were to conduct this observation again?
Advantages
• Allows observation of behavior exactly as it occurs in the real world. The situation being studied exists in the natural ecology of the species.
• Helps to establish the external strength of the research findings. If you see the behavior occurring in real life, it’s easier to say that the results from your study extend to the general population.
Disadvantages
• This method is good if a researcher wants participants to be reacting normally but it can be time consuming, the "sought-after" behavior may never occur, there is no control over the environment
(e.g., fast food restaurant runs out of fries), and it is difficult to know if the researcher will be able to be completely unnoticeably.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
· What are some distinct advantages of a qualitative data-gathering strategy, such as participant observation, over more quantitative approaches?…
- 520 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
There are significant practical implications of conducting participant observation. First of all it can be very time consuming, an example would be Eileen Barker who did a study of "The Moonies" which took her 7 years to complete. Alongside this, the researcher needs to be able to recognise aspects of a situation which aren't significant and worth further investigation. If the observation is covert it can be very stressful and demanding. It can also be very difficult to keep accurate field notes during these studies. However these practical limitations can be outweighed by the fact that participant observation is the best way to truly…
- 1095 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
3. Explain why it is important to observe an individual’s reactions when communicating with them.…
- 752 Words
- 4 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
- Explain why it is important to observe an individuals reactions when communicating with them.…
- 708 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
1.3 Explain why it is important to observe an individual’s reactions when communicating with them.…
- 464 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
1.3 – Explain why it is important to observe an individual’s reaction when communicating with them.…
- 392 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
1.3 Explain why it is important to observe an individual’s reactions when communicating with them…
- 320 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
3. Explain why it is important to observe an individual’s reactions when communicating with them (1.1.3)…
- 559 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
1.3 – Explain why it is important to observe an individual’s reactions when communicating with them.…
- 1658 Words
- 7 Pages
Good Essays -
Facial expression is a very important component of human communication. Of all the functions of the face, eye behavior is unquestionably the most important tool in communication. Eye behavior serves a variety of purposes. It regulates conversations, shows interest or involvement, and establishes a connection with others. Specifically, the eye gaze is one aspect of eye behavior that plays a significant role in the communication process. It can make or break a conversation. In order to further understand the effects of the eye gaze versus the lack of eye contact, I participated in conversation with three people, using two types of eye behavior. In one situation, I gazed in the eyes of the individual. In the other situations, I completely avoided looking at the person all together.…
- 944 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
The purpose of this study was to conduct observations, using two different methods, on children, between the ages of 4-5, to understand their emotional behaviors in a social and learning environment as well as determining which method of observation was more reliable. There are different methods of conducting observations, but two main ones include naturalistic observation and experimental observation. A naturalistic observation method is when a researcher studies a person or group in their natural environment or setting; the behavior that is observed is one that occurs in a person’s everyday life. In contrast, an experimental observation method is when a researcher is studying a specific behavior in a laboratory-like environment.…
- 1736 Words
- 7 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Most of us would not readily think that eye contact had anything to do with language, or a person’s culture. While researching a topic for this paper I came across an article on cultural differences that contained a section about eye contact. I found it to be very telling, as to the reasons for either the lack of, or the reasons for eye contact.…
- 694 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
looking. Of course looking is at the heart of all observation, but the best observational researchers are skilled in a technique of looking in a focused and systematic way. In fact, observation involves a range of skills, of which observing is just one. Others include listening, participating, contributing, pursuing, questioning, communicating, interacting, sharing, refraining, retreating, negotiating, timing, recording, describing, and so on. If you plan to conduct…
- 1350 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Eye contact is one of the forms of nonverbal communication. In my opinion, it is one of the most important. The face and eyes are what people first see when communicating with each other. Our eyes and ears take in information first before anything else. When speaking with another person, in order for them to understand what you are saying, or where you are coming from (implied meaning) eye contact is a must. This establishes a relationship with the person that is listening. Communication experts generally agree that when two people are engaged in a face-to-face conversation, only a small fraction of the total message they share is contained in the words they use (Preston, 2005). Verbal communication means nothing without the nonverbal components.…
- 439 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Briefly, naturalistic observation is to study participant’s behavior in natural settings, the researcher becomes a part of own work to get a deeper insight into their study. Participant observations can be either cover or overt. Covert is where the study is applied without aware of participants. The researcher hides his aims and identity from participants who are in the study. The researcher takes a different role and act like a member of the group s/he study On the other hand, overt is where the researcher does not hide his or her true aim and identity to the participants and also asks permission to observe. There are three recording of data which are event sampling; selecting the behaviors researcher interested in and ignoring all other behaviors, time sampling; observing only during specific time periods, Instantaneous sampling where in recording pre-selected moments in that instant period of the event. As an example of my study at emu spring festival; I observed that audiences were bored due to late start of the theatre so they used self-phone. I also observed that participants drank too much alcohol and too many fight were occurred during the concert of Duman. After the mid-night few groups of male participants started to molest girls. However, most of the audience had a great time. People who ate fast food spent more time on sitting compare the vegetarians Usually, Mexican foods were preferred by African, Iranian,…
- 1072 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays