Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-qlrfm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-10T20:26:23.507Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

An Introduction to Nonparticipant Observational Research Techniques

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 May 2016

Carol Barner-Barry
Carol Barner-Barry*
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University of Maryland—Baltimore County, Catonsville, Maryland 21228
Get access

Extract

At least since the time of Darwin, scientists have been using systematic observational techniques in the conduct of research. During the 1920s and 1930s, in psychology and zoology there was widespread use of the systematic recording of quantitative analysis of observed behavioral data. In both professions, this enthusiasm gradually gave way to an emphasis on controlled experiments. In psychology, the incidence of nonparticipant observational research dwindled to almost zero. In zoology, it became somewhat attenuated, but was preserved as a part of the ethological tradition (Hutt and Hutt, 1970).

Type
Research Commentary
Information
Politics and the Life Sciences , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , August 1986 , pp. 139 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Association for Politics and the Life Sciences 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Altmann, J. (1974). “Observational Study of Behavior: Sampling Methods.” Behaviour 49: 227–267.Google Scholar
Ary, D., and Suen, H. K. (1983). “The Use of Momentary Time Sampling to Access Both Frequency and Duration of Behavior.” Journal of Behavioral Assessment 5: 143–150.Google Scholar
Barner-Barry, C. (1977). “An Observational Study of Authority in a Preschool Peer Group.” Political Methodology 4: 415–449.Google Scholar
Blurton-Jones, N., and Woodson, R. H. (1979). “Describing Behavior: The Ethologist's Perspective.” In Lamb, M. E., Suomi, S. J., and Stephenson, G. R., (eds.), Social Interaction Analysis: Methodological Issues. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 97–118.Google Scholar
Boice, R., Hanley, C. P., Gansler, D., Shaughnessy, P., and Dudek, B. C. (1984). “Generality of Observational Skill Across Verbal and Nonverbal Modes: Literature Review and Experimental Test.” Journal of Nonverbal Behavior 8: 172–186.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. E. (1971). Casual Groups of Monkeys and Men: Stochastic Models of Elemental Social Systems. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Connelly, K., and Smith, P. K. (1972). “Reactions of Pre-school Children to a Strange Observer.” In Blurton-Jones, N. (ed.), Ethological Studies of Child Behavior. Cambridge, Mass.: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Converse, P. E. (1964). “New Dimensions of Meaning for Cross-sectional Sample Surveys in Politics.” International Social Science Journal 16: 19–34.Google Scholar
Dolgin, K. G. (1983). “Nonverbal Signals: An Addition to an Ethological Approach.” Politics and the Life Sciences 2: 21–23.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Donohue, W. A., Diez, M. E., and Hamilton, M. (1984). “Coding Naturalistic Negotiation Interaction.” Human Communications Research 10: 403–425.Google Scholar
Elias, M. F. (1984). “Handheld Computers for Recording Timed Behavior Observations.” Ethology and Sociobiology 5: 59–60.Google Scholar
Feldbaum, C. L., and Christenson, T. E. (1977). “An Observational Technique for the Naturalistic Study of Group Processes and Social Interactions in Preschool Children.” A training manual distributed in connection with a paper presented at the 1977 Annual Meeting of the Animal Behavior Society.Google Scholar
Hartmann, D. P. (1977). “Considerations in the Choice of Interobserver Reliability Estimates.” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis 10: 103–116.Google Scholar
House, A. E., Farber, J. W., and Nier, L. L. (1983). “Differences in Computational Accuracy and Speed of Calculation between Three Measures of Interobserver Agreement.” Child Study Journal 13: 195–201.Google Scholar
Hutt, S. J., and Hutt, C. (1970). Direct Observation and Measurement of Behavior. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas, Publisher.Google Scholar
Lamb, M. E. (1979). “Issues in the Study of Social Interaction: An Introduction.” In Lamb, M. E., Suomi, S. J., and Stephenson, G. R. (eds.), Social Interaction Analysis: Methodological Issues. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 1–10.Google Scholar
Omark, D. R., Fiedler, M. L., and Marvin, R. S. (1976). “Dominance Hierarchies: Observational Techniques Applied to the Study of Children at Play.” Instructional Science 5: 403–423.Google Scholar
Powell, J. (1984). “Some Empirical Justification for a Modes Proposal Regarding Data Acquisition via Intermittent Direct Observation.” Journal of Behavioral Assessment 6: 71–80.Google Scholar
Schubert, J. N. (1983). “Ethological Methods for Observing Small Group Political Decision Making.” Politics and the Life Sciences 2: 3–19.Google Scholar
Sellitz, C., Wrightsman, L., and Cook, S. W. (1976). Research Methods in Social Relations. 3rd ed.New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.Google Scholar
Simpson, M. (1979). “Problems of Recording Behavioral Data by Keyboard.” In Lamb, M. E., Suomi, S. J., and Stephenson, G. R. (eds.), Social Interaction Analysis: Methodological Issues. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 137–156.Google Scholar
Slater, P. J. B. (1978). “Data Collection.” In Colgan, P. W. (ed.), Quantitative Ethology. New York: John Wiley & Sons, pp. 8–24.Google Scholar
Somner, R. (1977). “Toward a Psychology of Natural Behavior.” APA Monitor 8: 1,7.Google Scholar
Stephenson, G. R. (1979). “PLEXYN: A Computer-compatible Grammar for Coding Complex Social Interactions.” In Lamb, M. E., Suomi, S. J., and Stephenson, G. R. (eds.), Social Interaction Analysis: Methodological Issues. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 157–184.Google Scholar
Webb, E. J., Campbell, D. T., Schwartz, R. D., and Sechrest, L. (1966). Unobtrusive Measures: Nonreactive Research in the Social Sciences. Chicago: Rand McNally and Company.Google Scholar
Wright, H. F. (1960). “Observational Child Study.” In Mussen, P. H. (ed.), Handbook of Research Methods in Child Development. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.Google Scholar
Wright, H. F. (1967). Recording and Analyzing Child Behavior. New York: Harper and Row.Google Scholar