1. OBSERVATION METHODS
CHAPTER 11
Anirudh Jindal 22
Karan Juriani 24
Ishant Kathuria 26
Gunjan Khanuja 28
Kushal Suneja 30

2. “YOU SEE, BUT YOU
DO NOT OBSERVE.”
~ Sherlock Holmes

3. . . . systematic witnessing and/or
recording of behavioral patterns of
objects, people, and events without
directly communicating with them –
can collect both qualitative and
quantitative data.
There are four conditions for scientific
observation:
• Serves a formulated research
purpose
• Planned systematically
• Recorded systematically
• Subjected to checks or controls on
validity and reliability
OBSERVATIONS

4.  Physical actions
 Expressive behaviors
 Verbal patterns
 Temporal patterns
 Spatial relationships & locations
 Physical objects
 Nonverbal symbols
BEHAVIORS THAT ARE OBSERVED . . .

5. WHAT CAN BE OBSERVED
Human behavior
or physical
action
• Shoppers movement pattern in a store
Verbal
behavior
• Statements made by airline travelers who wait in lineExpressive
behavior
• Facial expressions, tone of voice, and other form of body
language
Spatial
relations and
locations
• How close visitors at an art museum stand to paintings
Temporal
patterns
• How long fast-food customers wait for their order to be
served
Physical
objects
• What brand name items are stored in consumers‟ pantries
Verbal and
Pictorial
Records
• Bar codes on product packages

6. OBSERVATION OF HUMAN BEHAVIOUR
Business researchers can observe people, objects, events, or other phenomena using either human
observers or machines designed for specific observation tasks
Direct observation is a
straightforward attempt to
observe and record what
naturally occurs; the
investigator does not create
artificial situation.
Contrived observation is
observation in which the
investigator creates an
artificial environment in
order to test a hypothesis.
Direct versus scientifically
contrived observation
Visible observation is
situation in which the
observer‟s presence is
known to the subject.
Hidden observation is
situation in which the
subject is unaware that
observation is taking place.
Visible versus hidden
observation
Mechanical observation is
situation in which video
cameras, traffic
counters, and other
machines help observe and
record behavior.
Human versus mechanical
observation

7. NATURE OF OBSERVATION STUDIES
• Communication with respondent is not necessary
• Data without distortions due to self-report (e.g.: without social desirability) Bias
• No need to rely on respondents memory
• Nonverbal behavior data may be obtained
• Certain data may be obtained more quickly
• Environmental conditions may be recorded
• May be combined with survey to provide supplemental evidence

8. OBSERVING AND INTERPRETING NON VERBAL
COMMUNICATION

9. DIRECT OBSERVATION
 Straight forward attempt to observe and record what naturally
occurs
 Data like age, gender, race can be easily observed
 Produces detailed Records with more accurate data
 Observer - Passive Role
 Helps keep researchers‟ observation consistent
 Response Latency - Amount of time it takes to make a choice
between two alternatives
 Quick decision indicates psychological distance between
alternatives

10. ERRORS IN DIRECT OBSERVATION
 Observer Bias : A distortion of measurement resulting from the cognitive behavior
 To some extent Subjective in nature
 Compromise on accuracy due to factors such as speed of recording details, observer‟s
memory, writing speed
 Not all details recorded
 Interpretation of data can be a source of error.

11. SCIENTIFICALLY CONTRIVED OBSERVATION
 Create an artificial situation in order to test a hypothesis or a situation under study
 Less time consuming than the observation technique.
 Observer has greater control over gathering the data
 Observer can Influence the subjects

12. COMBINING DIRECT OBSERVATION & INTERVIEWING
 Interviews conducted after detailed direct
observation
 Can better explain their actions noticed under
the observation technique

13. ETHICAL ISSUES IN OBSERVATION
 Hidden Observations intrudes into the RIGHT TO
PRIVACY
 More problematic in Private places than in public such
as
 Trial rooms , Rest rooms, Spas etc
 Observation through two way mirrors
 Some people might see contrived observation as
entrapment
If no permission is
taken from the
subject:
• Intrusion into privacy
• Unethical and Illegal
behavior
If permission is taken
from the subject:
• Un natural responses
• Soul purpose of research
being negotiated
The Dilemma

14. WHEN SHOULD A RESEARCHER FEEL
COMFORTABLE ABOUT COLLECTING
OBSERVATIONS
 Is the behavior being observed commonly performed in public where
it is expected to be observed by others
 Is the behavior performed in a setting in which the anonymity of the
person is assured
 Has the person agreed to the observations
Yes ?
Yes ?
Yes
?

15. OBSERVATION OF PHYSICAL OBJECTS
 Physical trace data serves as visible record of past
events
 Important information can be extracted
 Response bias is avoided
 More correct and accurate information as it is the direct
physical object
Examples:
 More the wear and tear of books indicates more is the
usage and preference for those books.
 Garbage Project

16. CONTENT ANALYSIS
 Systematically analyzing the written
communication
 Observing and analyzing the contents
,messages ,advertisements, newspaper article
,television programmes.
 Aimed at collecting information on
characteristics of messages
 Advertisement content analysis:
 analyzing the usage of word ,themes and
characters

17. CONTENT ANALYSIS: EXAMPLES

18. TRACE ANALYSIS
 Researchers collect data on the basis of
physical trace and evidence of previous
activities of the users
 For e.g.: Looking at product wrappers in waste
bin
 Has disadvantages in terms of generalizability of
the result
 FMCGs use this quite frequently to have initial
idea about the consumption behaviour of their
newly launched products

19. MECHANICAL OBSERVATION
 Includes video cameras, traffic counters and machines, which helps us to observe and record
behaviour
 Sometimes motion picture cameras and time lapse photography are also used
 Application in real time:
 Train passengers and find out their level of comfort
 Traffic flows in urban square
 Organization of warehouse

20. TELEVISION MONITORING
 Computerized mechanical observation used to obtain
television ratings
 Used consumer panel & PeopleMeter – a monitoring
device
 PeopleMeter gathers data about who is watching which
program at what time
 More than 5000 TV sets were fitted with this device

21. CLICK – THROUGH RATES (MONITORING WEBSITE TRAFFIC)
 Percentage of people who are exposed to an
advertisement who actually click on the corresponding
hyperlink which takes them to the Company‟s website
 Way of measuring the success of an online advertising
campaign for a particular website
 Advertisers incur cost on each click as cost per click
 Counting hits suggests the amount of interest website is
receiving but these measures are flawed

22. CTR FLAWS
 Hits do not differentiate between lot of activity by a few visitors or little activity by many visitors
 Cant differentiate if a user is clicking multiple times due to some useful thing or just because he is trying
unsuccessfully to find something by looking in several places.
 Hits by mistake
 Consumer may be unaware of what they are doing while clicking the ad, they might be looking for
something & ended up there

23. SCANNER BASED RESEARCH
What it is ??
 A mechanical method of observation
 Use of scanner based consumer panels instead
of consumer purchase diaries
How it is implemented ??
 Each household is assigned with a bar code
card
 Scanner machines record purchase information
at the billing counter
 Background information collected through
surveys is also coupled with household code
number
 Aggregate data is provided to industries for
analytics

24. ADVANTAGES OVER CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM
 Actual purchase behavior rather than reported behavior
 Improved efficiency
 Unbiased data
 More extensive data can be recorded
 Data can be combined with other factors and be analyzed with powerful analytical software

25. MEASURING PHYSIOLOGICAL REACTIONS
 Mechanical devices have been used to record physiological reactions of consumer to
advertising, packaging or other stimuli
 The two basic principals for these observations are:
 Eye Movements towards stimuli which attracts more
 Change in Adrenaline level when body is aroused

26. DEVICES USED
Eye-tracking monitor
Tracks eye movements with invisible infrared light beams
Infrared beam of light locks on pupil to record eye movement across stimuli
Another camera records the pages or screen being viewed
Data is analyzed in a computer to find out the subject‟s interest in an ad
Pupilometer
• Observes and records changes in the diameter of subject‟s pupils
• Brightness and distance of the stimulus from the subject „s eyes are held constant
• Assumption – Increased pupil size reflects positive attitude

27. DEVICES USED
Psychogalvanometer
• Measures galvanic skin response i.e change in electrical resistance
• Change in adrenaline level increases blood flow, perspiration and
electrical resistance of the body
• Based on assumption that physiological changes accompany emotional
reaction to stimuli
Voice-pitch analysis
• Gauges emotional reactions as reflected by frequency of person‟s voice
• Abnormal frequencies in the voice are recorded that are supposed to
reflect emotional reaction towards stimuli

28. LIMITATIONS
 No strong evidence supports the argument that physiological change is a valid measure of future
sales, change of attitude etc
 Calibration of measuring devices
 Expensive
 Participants know that they are being observed