Structured observation
LaPiere conducted a study of the way restaurant owners granted or refused access to a Chinese couple. This is an example of observing behaviour in terms of:
Individuals
Incidents
Short time periods
Long time periods
Incidents
This is the classical study (LaPiere, 1934, cited on page 273 and discussed in Thinking deeply 12.2 on page 268) of the discrepancy between what we do and what we say we do. In his study, LaPiere concentrated on the “incident” of acceptance by hotels and restaurants of Chinese guests. In other words, he did not attempt to find out why entry might be granted or refused. His work, therefore, is quantitative. It demonstrates a method whereby we can record the way people respond to particular events or incidents in a social setting. This may only refer to one point in time but will still allow for comparisons to be made because of high degrees of reliability. It should be pointed out that LaPiere conducted a survey as the counterpoint for his argument.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 273
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 273
Incidents This is the classical study (LaPiere, 1934, cited on page 273 and discussed in Thinking deeply 12.2 on page 268) of the discrepancy between what we do and what we say we do. In his study, LaPiere concentrated on the “incident” of acceptance by hotels and restaurants of Chinese guests. In other words, he did not attempt to find out why entry might be granted or refused. His work, therefore, is quantitative. It demonstrates a method whereby we can record the way people respond to particular events or incidents in a social setting. This may only refer to one point in time but will still allow for comparisons to be made because of high degrees of reliability. It should be pointed out that LaPiere conducted a survey as the counterpoint for his argument.
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 273
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 273
Related posts
What did Salancik mean by “field stimulations”?A. Being immersed in the field can help to simulate the experience of your informants
B. Researchers can intervene in and manipulate a setting to observe the effects
C. Surveys conducted in the field are more effective than structured observation
D. Some researchers find their projects so stimulating that they have to lie down
The key advantage of structured observation over survey research is that:
A. It does not rely on the researcher’s ability to take notes
B. The researcher is immersed as a participant in the field they are studying
C. It does not impose any expectations of behaviour on the respondents
D. It allows you to observe people’s behaviour directly
Which of the following is not a type of sampling used in structured observation?
A. Focal sampling
B. Scan sampling
C. Emotional sampling
D. Behaviour sampling
What is meant by the term “reactive effect”?
A. If people know they are being observed, they may change their behaviour
B. Research subjects may have a bad reaction to the drugs they are given
C. Researchers sometimes react to their informants’ behaviour with horror
D. The categories on an observation schedule may not be mutually exclusive
What is an observation schedule?
A. A set of explicit rules for assigning behaviour to categories
B. A timetable of days on which you plan to carry out your observation
C. A list of questions to ask your interviewees
D. A way of testing for measurement validity
Cohen’s kappa is a measure of:
A. Inter-surveyor consistency
B. Intra-observer validity
C. Intra-coder validity
D. Inter-observer consistency
Which of the following is a problem associated with survey research?
A. The problem of objectivity
B. The problem of “going native”
C. The problem of omission
D. The problem of robustness
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