Field observation

Field observation is a qualitative research method that helps to gain an inside view of the community and the setting. By observing and talking to people about the topic of interest or about the problematic, this method provides a deeper understanding of the problems in their (local) context. Field observer presumes that there will be multiple (stakeholders’) perspectives within any community and is interested in knowing them and understanding the interplay among them. In this process it is necessary to look at the members of community that is observed as (possible) collaborators otherwise some valuable insights and data gets lost. The observation may be done individually, in pairs, or in teams – the decision depends on the location and the topics. If conducted in pairs/teams observers should disperse to different locations. In collecting the data, you should be creative, use recorders, write, draw sketch etc. You should be prepared and willing to adapt to uncontrolled situations and settings. Observe people as they engage in activities, engage in the activities yourself, carry out casual conversations in public places, bars, in markets etc. Generally speaking, you should (try to) go where people in the community often go in their daily lives. Other option is to attend organized events connected to the topic of your interest. Field observation gives nuanced understanding of the community or of a context that can come only from personal experience. It can be used to help answer descriptive research questions, to build theory, or to generate or test predictions/hypotheses. The field observation helps to get the feel of how things in the community are organized and prioritized, how people interrelate and what are the parameters, what members of the community deem to be important or where communities is facing challenges, provide you with a source of questions to be addressed with participants and help to find the answers to what is worth observing. Some of the most important reasons to use participant observation are: the method enables the possibility to collect different types of data, it helps to develop questions that make the most sense or are most important in certain environment, enables to collect qualitative and quantitative data. Compared to other qualitative approaches and methodologies, field observation has some valuable advantages. Firstly, to be actively present within community requires that researcher learns about the community and its activities in much details. Being in direct contact enhances the empathy and in-depth understanding of the community’s activities. Observations are made in various situations, at various locations and at various times, which brings the observer closer to the community and also eliminates the formality of scheduled workshops or sessions. On the other hand, from the nature of this method stem also some of its disadvantages, one of the main being that it is fairly time consuming. Another is the difficulty of documenting the data, which is also connected with the challenging tasks of simultaneously observing and taking notes. Further, observation in some domains requires specific knowledge to understand the processes. And lastly, observations is subjective exercise.