3 4 5 6 7 Rating scales

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rating scales

teacher smiles at child

In this method the researcher is asked to child smiles at teacher

make some judgement about the events being teacher smiles at parent /

observed, and to enter responses into a rating parent smiles at teacher

scale (see http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/ In this scene the researcher notes down what is

9780415368780 – Chapter 18, file 18.7.ppt). For happening on the thirty-second point and notices

example, Wragg (1994) suggests that observed from these precise moments that the teacher

teaching behaviour might be entered onto initiates the smiling but that all parties seem to

rating scales by placing the observed behaviour

be doing quite a lot of smiling, with the parent

onto a continuum:

and the child doing the same amount of smiling 1 2 3 4 5 each (see http://www.routledge.com/textbooks/

Aloof 9780415368780 – Chapter 18, file 18.6.ppt).

Warm

Dull Instantaneous sampling involves recording what

Stimulating

Slipshod is happening on the instant and entering it on the

Businesslike

appropriate category. The chronology of events is An observer might wish to enter a rating according preserved.

to a 5-point scale of observed behaviour, for example:

Interval recording

1 = not at all 2 = very little 3 = a little 4 = a lot This method charts the chronology of events to

5 = a very great deal

some extent and, like instantaneous sampling, 1 2 3 4 5 requires the data to be entered in the appropriate

Child seeks teacher’s

category at fixed intervals. However, instead of

attention

charting what is happening on the instant, it Teacher praises the child charts what has happened during the preceding

Teacher intervenes to stop interval. So, for example, if recording were to take

misbehaviour

place every thirty seconds, then the researcher would note down in the appropriate category what

What is required here is for the researcher to had happened during the preceding thirty seconds.

move from low inference (simply reporting obser- While this enables frequencies to be calculated,

vations) to a higher degree of inference (making simple patterns to be observed and an approximate

judgements about events observed). This might sequence of events to be noted, because it charts

introduce a degree of unreliability into the obser- what has taken place in the preceding interval of

vation, for example through the halo effect, the time, some elements of the chronology might be

central tendency wherein observers will avoid ex- lost. For example, if three events took place in the

treme categories, or recency – where observers are preceding thirty seconds of the example, then the

influenced by more recent events than less recent order of the three events would be lost; we would

events. That said, this might be a helpful summary know simply that they had occurred.

way of gathering observational data. Wilkinson (2000: 236) distinguishes between whole interval recording and partial interval

recording. In the former, behaviour is recorded Duration recording only if it lasts for the whole of the interval; in the

So far we have concerned ourselves with single latter, behaviour is recorded if it occupies only a

events and their recording. This is very suitable part of the interval in question. In the case of the

for single and usually short-lived behaviours. partial interval recording, the researcher will need

However, sometimes certain behaviours last a long to specify how to record this.

time and would over-run the interval categories

STRUCTURED OBSERVATION 403

Chapter

or event categories described above, i.e. it is researchers to satisfy themselves that it is valid continuous behaviour rather than a single event.

to infer that a particular behaviour indicates a For example, a child may remove her shoes only

particular state of mind or particular intention or once, but she may continue to be without her

motivation. The desire to operationalize concepts shoes for a twenty-minute period; a child may

and constructs can easily lead researchers to

delay starting to do any writing for ten minutes, provide simple indicators of complex concepts. again a single behaviour but which continues for

Further, structured observation neglects the longer than each of the intervals in interval or

significance of contexts – temporal and spatial – instantaneous recording; a child may have a single

thereby overlooking the fact that behaviours may tantrum which continues for twenty minutes, and

be context specific. In their concern for the overt so on. What we need is an indication of the

and the observable, researchers may overlook un- duration of a particular behaviour. The observation

intended outcomes which may have significance; is driven by the event, not the frequency of the

they may be unable to show how significant are observation. This means that the observer needs

the behaviours of the participants being observed to structure the recording schedule to indicate the

in their own terms. If we accept that behaviour is total duration of a single continuous behaviour.

developmental, that interactions evolve over time For all the kinds of schedules discussed above,

and, therefore, are, by definition, fluid, then the

a decision will have to have been agreed in three methods of structured observation outlined advance on how to enter data. Consistency of

above appear to take a series of ‘freeze-frame’ snap- entering by a single and multiple observers will

shots of behaviour, thereby violating the principle need to be found on what counts as evidence,

of fluidity of action. Captured for an instant in when, where and how to observe, and how many

time, it is difficult to infer a particular meaning to people on whom to focus. For example, how

one or more events (Stubbs and Delamont 1976), will the observation schedule distinguish between

just as it is impossible to say with any certainty one person being observed demonstrating the

what is taking place when we study a single pho- same behaviour twelve times (1 person × 12) and

tograph or a set of photographs of a particular many people demonstrating the same behaviour

event. Put simply, if structured observation is to fewer times (e.g. 2 people × 6 times each, or

hold water, then the researcher may need to gather

4 people × 3 times each), i.e. is the focus to be additional data from other sources to inform the on people or on behaviour?

interpretation of observational data. While structured observation can provide

This latter point is a matter not only for struc- useful numerical data (e.g. Galton and Simon

tured observation but, equally, for unstructured 1980; Bennett et al. 1984), there are several

observation, for what is being suggested here is the concerns which must be addressed in this form

notion that triangulation (of methods, of observers, of observation, for example:

of time and space) can assist the researcher to

generate reliable evidence. There is a risk that The method is behaviourist, excluding any observations will be selective, and the effects of mention of the intentions or motivations of this can be attenuated by triangulation. One way the people being observed.

of gathering more reliable data (for example about The individual’s subjectivity is lost to an

a particular student or group of students) is by aggregated score.

them through the course of a day or a There is an assumption that the observed week, following them from place to place, event behaviour provides evidence of underlying to event. It is part of teaching folklore that stu- feelings, i.e. that concepts or constructs can dents will behave very differently for one teacher

tracking

be crudely measured in observed occurrences. than for another, and a full picture of students’ This last point is important, for it goes to the very

behaviour might require the observer to see the heart of the notion of validity, since it requires

students in different contexts.

404 OBSERVATION