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Electronic Resources for Research Methods
Observation
- Beitz, Charles A. and Hook, John R. (1998) The culture of military organizations: a participant-observer case study of cultural diversity. Public Administration and Management: An Interactive Journal, 3(3).
"The relationship between individual personality and organizational culture is a topic typically considered in theoretical terms. This article addresses empirical evidence relating to one aspect of this relationship. It explores the hypothesis that individuals (particularly organizational leaders) attempt to change the culture of their organizations to fit their own personality preferences. Contemporary definitions of culture are presented, and five of the better known mechanisms for categorizing individual personality types are briefly described. Opportunities, motives and anecdotes describing the efforts of individuals to change their organization's culture are presented. The article postulates that there is sufficient evidence to conclude that individuals do attempt (and sometimes succeed) in changing their organizations' culture."
- Boeree, C. George. (n.d.) Qualitative methods: part three, in C. George Boeree, Qualitative methods workbook. Shippensburg, PA: Shippensburg University.
Four chapters on observation: Ch. 10 - Observation; Ch. 11 - Participant observation; Ch. 12 - Becoming more observant; Ch. 13 - Experimental phenomenology.
- Brown, Laura. (n.d.) Observational field research. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University. Retrieved 2nd August, 2008 from http://www.socialresearchmethods.net/tutorial/Brown/lauratp.htm (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5ZndvEZ3m)
"First this Web Page will discuss the appropriate situations to use observational field research. Second, the various types of observations research methods are explained. Finally, observational variables are discussed. This page's emphasis is on the collection rather the analysis of data."
- Fox, Nick. (1998) How to use observations in a research project. Leicester, Nottingham, Sheffield: Trent Focus Group. Retrieved 2 August, 2008 from http://bit.ly/2UjD9T (Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5ZndSmDde)
"...'observation' is more than just recording of data from the environment. When we observe, we are active, not passive collectors of data like a tape recorder or video camera. Our brains are engaged as well as our eyes and ears, organising data so we can make sense of them. Perception is thus part of all human observation. This aspect of what is involved in observation is crucial to any efforts to use it as a method of research."
- List, Dennis (2001) Observation, in Dennis List, Know your audience. Chapter 13. Wellington: Original Books.
"...it’s possible to do research without asking questions, but simply observing respondents. This is called observation.
There are two ways of doing observation:
(1) Informal observation, also called unstructured or exploratory observation. This is usually done when the research group has little knowledge of a population and its behaviour. The main purpose of informal observation is to create hypotheses to be tested later, in a survey or using formal observation.
(2) Formal observation, also called structured or systematic observation. This is more like a survey, where every respondent is asked the same set of questions. But in this case, questions are not asked. Instead, particular types of behaviour are looked for, and counted."
- Research methods in psychology. Observation. (1998) in, Research methods. New York, NY: City College of New York.
A Web site that includes seven units on various aspects of observation.
- Research methods. Participant observation. (2003) 'Sociology Central'. www.sociology.org
"Some research methods (such as questionnaires) stress the importance of the researcher not becoming 'personally involved' with the respondent, in the sense of the researcher maintaining both a personal and a social distance between themselves and the people they are researching. Participant observation, however, is sometimes called a form of subjective sociology, not because the researcher aims to impose their beliefs on the respondent (this would simply produce invalid data), but because the aim is to understand the social world from the subject's point-of-view."
- Wilson, T.D. and Streatfield, D.R. (1980) "You can observe a lot..." A study of information use in local authority social services departments conducted by Project INISS. Sheffield: University of Sheffield.
"In any social survey research it is difficult to envisage circumstances in which interviews or self-completed questionnaires should be used in the field before adequate information has been obtained on the circumstances surrounding the survey subjects. To the survey researcher this is the stage of gaining 'site-specific' knowledge.
Obtaining this kind of knowledge was the prime purpose of the observation phase of Project INISS. Before carrying out any interviews it was felt necessary to discover certain things about social services departments and those who work in them."
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