ABSTRACT
Observation rakes many forms, from highly structured to completely unstructured. Each of these brings its own challenges, and the chapter indicates what these are and how to address them. Included in this are the different types and roles of the observer and how to discharge those roles effectively, from non-participant structured observer to naturalistic, participant observation. The chapter also includes advice on observation settings, what to focus on, how to record observations, how to gather observational data, how to decide time frames for observation, how to analyse observational data, writing field notes, how to use video in observational data collection. Emphasis is placed on the need to practise structured observation (e.g. event sampling, instantaneous sampling, interval recording). The chapter also underlines the significance of observing and recording critical incidents, even if they only occur once. It raises limitations of observational data in inferring causality and in meeting requirements of validity and reliability; it also raises significant ethical issues and how to address them. Observation places the observer into the moral domain, it is not simply a non-intrusive, non interventionist technique, thereby abrogating the researcher from responsibility for participants; it is not a morally neutral enterprise.
