Effective Data Collection in Observational Research
Challenges in Observational Data Collection
Visual Recording: Reactivity and Privacy Concerns
Visual recording methods often trigger reactivity in research subjects. Cameras, in particular, can be highly intrusive, leading to an explicit loss of anonymity. While their use in open environments might sometimes be overlooked, it frequently faces strong rejection. When observing actions in private spaces, the use of visual recording requires an intense and arduous negotiation process.
Audio Recording: A Less Intrusive Method
Audio recording systems are generally perceived as less intrusive. Discreetly installed microphones in interview settings may initially cause some concern. However, subjects often acclimate to their presence, especially as people are increasingly accustomed to being observed by cameras.
The Foundation of Fieldwork: Written Notes
Despite technological advancements, the most classic form of information gathering—regularly writing notes and daily entries—remains a primary source of material for analysis.
Discipline and Immediacy in Recording
Discipline is essential for systematically collecting all relevant information, aligning with alternating stages of observation and recording. We cannot rely solely on memory for annotations made long after an event, even with audio or video technical support. Immediate impressions, felt emotions, and interpretations of observed variations can be subject to selectivity, influencing how our memory records experiences. Therefore, recording should be as immediate as possible. If conducted in closed settings, the observer must employ discreet technical means and train their memory, though this is still less desirable than immediate recording.
The notes we record should reflect these developments. Facts must be described in detail, as this is crucial for the interpretation and analysis stages, which are interspersed with the information collection itself.
Ensuring Fidelity, Reliability, and Validity
Fidelity in recording is the primary maxim of data collection. This extends to documenting interpretations offered by observed subjects and those formulated by the investigator/observer.
Reliability and validity rest on the use and adaptation of objective recording methods. This is particularly important when research involves multiple observers.
The Field Diary: An Essential Research Tool
Registered notes are typically collected in a field diary, which is key to anthropological data. It reflects what people actually do, their reactions to the researcher, and the researcher’s own mood, which can influence their perception of facts. A field diary details:
- Where you’ve been
- Who you’ve seen
- What they did and how
- Topics of conversation
This detailed record makes it easier to reconstruct experiences later.
Purpose and Evolving Format of the Field Log
The final format of the field log cannot be designed beforehand; it undergoes continuous transformations. Each situation may necessitate a different mode of recording, and the sum of these adaptations allows for:
- Controlling the research tempo
- Managing researcher subjectivity
- Developing strategies for discovering results
- Addressing problems as they arise throughout the knowledge construction process
The field diary is at once a tool, a text document, and the essence of participant observation.
Field Diaries vs. Other Narrative Genres
It shares similarities with narrative genres such as diaries, memoirs, and autobiographies. With diaries, it shares the regular, daily, day-to-day recording, though their ultimate goals differ. Field diaries are constructed with the intention to describe, interpret, and explain situations that define social reality. With memoirs and autobiographies, it shares a personal nature, but the temporal distance of their preparation differentiates them. The field diary, built day by day, does not share the global perspective, matured over time, that characterizes the other two genres.
Key Information Sources During Fieldwork
During fieldwork, researchers draw upon various sources:
- Document review (prior research)
- Insights from studies by other researchers and informants
- Interviews of varying formality
These and many other stimuli require the observer to make notes that systematically link etic and emic approaches with a clear analytical purpose.