Preface

We wrote this book because it’s time. The TLA (three-letter acronym) for because it’s time is BIT, and what used to be called the bit-net (now the Internet) let the authors begin their long-distance collaboration between Atlanta and Barcelona. When we began working together in the early 1990s, many investigators believed – with some justification – that observational methods were appealing but too expensive and too time-consuming. At that time, analog video recording on tape had replaced film, and electronic means of recording observational data were replacing paper and pencil; yet most electronic and computer systems were specialized, expensive, and a bit cumbersome. We knew the digital revolution had begun, but we had no idea it would have the reach and impact it has today.

As we begin the second decade of this century, times have indeed changed. We now live in an image-saturated world where no moment seems private and everything seems available for instant download. Thus it is no wonder that researchers increasingly see merit in digitally recording behavior for subsequent systematic observation. Indeed, for recording behavior, digital has become the standard and preferred method. And although the systematic observation of the sort described in this book can still be done live, it works far better when behavior is digitally recorded for later replay, reflection, and review. Digital multimedia (audio-video) files can be created, copied, played, and stored with relative ease – and increasingly at minimal expense.