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What Is Qualitative Observation? | Definition & Examples

What Is Qualitative Observation? | Definition & Examples

Published on March 18, 2023 by Tegan George . Revised on June 22, 2023.

Qualitative observation is a research method where the characteristics or qualities of a phenomenon are described without using any quantitative measurements or data. Rather, the observation is based on the observer’s subjective interpretation of what they see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.

Qualitative observations can be done using various methods, including direct observation, interviews , focus groups , or case studies . They can provide rich and detailed information about the behavior, attitudes, perceptions, and experiences of individuals or groups.

When to use qualitative observation, examples of qualitative observation, types of qualitative observations, advantages and disadvantages of qualitative observations, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions.

Qualitative observation is a type of observational study , often used in conjunction with other types of research through triangulation . It is often used in fields like social sciences, education, healthcare, marketing, and design. This type of study is especially well suited for gaining rich and detailed insights into complex and/or subjective phenomena.

A qualitative observation could be a good fit for your research if:

You are conducting exploratory research . If the goal of your research is to gain a better understanding of a phenomenon, object, or situation, qualitative observation is a good place to start.
When your research topic is complex, subjective, or cannot be examined numerically. Qualitative observation is often able to capture the complexity and subjectivity of human behavior, particularly for topics like emotions, attitudes, perceptions, or cultural practices. These may not be quantifiable or measurable through other methods.
You are relying on triangulation within your research approach. Qualitative observation is a solid addition to triangulation approaches, where multiple sources of data are used to validate and verify research findings.

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Qualitative observation is commonly used in marketing to study consumer behavior, preferences, and attitudes towards products or services.

During the focus group, you focus particularly on qualitative observations, taking note of the participants’ facial expressions, body language, word choice, and tone of voice.

Qualitative observation is often also used in design fields, to better understand user needs, preferences, and behaviors. This can aid in the development of products and services that better meet user needs.

You are particularly focused on any usability issues that could impact customer satisfaction. You run a series of testing sessions, focusing on reactions like facial expressions, body language, and verbal feedback.

There are several types of qualitative observation. Here are some of the most common types to help you choose the best one for your work.

Qualitative observations are a great choice of research method for some projects, but they definitely have their share of disadvantages to consider.

Advantages of qualitative observations

Qualitative observations allow you to generate rich and nuanced qualitative data —aiding you in understanding a phenomenon or object and providing insights into the more complex and subjective aspects of human experience.
Qualitative observation is a flexible research method that can be adjusted based on research goals and timeline. It also has the potential to be quite non-intrusive, allowing observation of participants in their natural settings without disrupting or influencing their behavior.
Qualitative observation is often used in combination with other research methods, such as interviews or surveys , to provide a more complete picture of the phenomenon being studied. This triangulation can help improve the reliability and validity of the research findings.

Disadvantages of qualitative observations

Like many observational studies, qualitative observations are at high risk for many research biases , particularly on the side of the researcher in the case of observer bias . These biases can also bleed over to the participant size, in the case of the Hawthorne effect or social desirability bias .
Qualitative observations are typically based on a small sample size , which makes them very unlikely to be representative of the larger population. This greatly limits the generalizability of the findings if used as a standalone method, and the data collection process can be long and onerous.
Like other human subject research, qualitative observation has its share of ethical considerations to keep in mind and protect, particularly informed consent, privacy, and confidentiality.

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If you want to know more about statistics , methodology , or research bias , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Student’s t -distribution
Normal distribution
Null and Alternative Hypotheses
Chi square tests
Confidence interval
Quartiles & Quantiles
Cluster sampling
Stratified sampling
Data cleansing
Reproducibility vs Replicability
Peer review
Prospective cohort study

Research bias

Implicit bias
Cognitive bias
Placebo effect
Hawthorne effect
Hindsight bias
Affect heuristic
Social desirability bias

Data analysis in qualitative observation often involves searching for any recurring patterns, themes, and categories in your data. This process may involve coding the data, developing conceptual frameworks or models, and conducting thematic analysis . This can help you generate strong hypotheses or theories based on your data.

Quantitative research deals with numbers and statistics, while qualitative research deals with words and meanings.

Quantitative methods allow you to systematically measure variables and test hypotheses . Qualitative methods allow you to explore concepts and experiences in more detail.

An observational study is a great choice for you if your research question is based purely on observations. If there are ethical, logistical, or practical concerns that prevent you from conducting a traditional experiment , an observational study may be a good choice. In an observational study, there is no interference or manipulation of the research subjects, as well as no control or treatment groups .

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Qualitative Research: Observation

Getting Started
Focus Groups
Observation
Case Studies
Data Collection
Cleaning Text
Analysis Tools
Institutional Review

Participant Observation

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Field Guide

Participant Observation Field Guide

What is an observation?

A way to gather data by watching people, events, or noting physical characteristics in their natural setting. Observations can be overt (subjects know they are being observed) or covert (do not know they are being watched).

Researcher becomes a participant in the culture or context being observed.
Requires researcher to be accepted as part of culture being observed in order for success

Direct Observation

Researcher strives to be as unobtrusive as possible so as not to bias the observations; more detached.
Technology can be useful (i.e video, audiorecording).

Indirect Observation

Results of an interaction, process or behavior are observed (for example, measuring the amount of plate waste left by students in a school cafeteria to determine whether a new food is acceptable to them).

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Chapter 13. Participant Observation

Introduction.

Although there are many possible forms of data collection in the qualitative researcher’s toolkit, the two predominant forms are interviewing and observing. This chapter and the following chapter explore observational data collection. While most observers also include interviewing, many interviewers do not also include observation. It takes some special skills and a certain confidence to be a successful observer. There is also a rich tradition of what I am going to call “deep ethnography” that will be covered in chapter 14. In this chapter, we tackle the basics of observational data collection.

What is Participant Observation?

While interviewing helps us understand how people make sense of their worlds, observing them helps us understand how they act and behave. Sometimes, these actions and behaviors belie what people think or say about their beliefs and values and practices. For example, a person can tell you they would never racially discriminate, but observing how they actually interact with racialized others might undercut those statements. This is not always about dishonesty. Most of us tend to act differently than we think we do or think we should. That is part of being human. If you are interested in what people say and believe , interviewing is a useful technique for data collection. If you are interested in how people act and behave , observing them is essential. And if you want to know both, particularly how thinking/believing and acting/behaving complement or contradict each other, then a combination of interviewing and observing is ideal.

There are a variety of terms we use for observational data collection, from ethnography to fieldwork to participant observation . Many researchers use these terms fairly interchangeably, but here I will separately define them. The subject of this chapter is observation in general, or participant observation, to highlight the fact that observers can also be participants. The subject of chapter 14 will be deep ethnography , a particularly immersive form of study that is attractive for a certain subset of qualitative researchers. Both participant observation and deep ethnography are forms of fieldwork in which the researcher leaves their office and goes into a natural setting to record observations that take place in that setting. [1]

Participant observation (PO) is a field approach to gathering data in which the researcher enters a specific site for purposes of engagement or observation. Participation and observation can be conceptualized as a continuum, and any given study can fall somewhere on that line between full participation (researcher is a member of the community or organization being studied) and observation (researcher pretends to be a fly on the wall surreptitiously but mostly by permission, recording what happens). Participant observation forms the heart of ethnographic research, an approach, if you remember, that seeks to understand and write about a particular culture or subculture. We’ll discuss what I am calling deep ethnography in the next chapter, where researchers often embed themselves for months if not years or even decades with a particular group to be able to fully capture “what it’s like.” But there are lighter versions of PO that can form the basis of a research study or that can supplement or work with other forms of data collection, such as interviews or archival research. This chapter will focus on these lighter versions, although note that much of what is said here can also apply to deep ethnography (chapter 14).

PO methods of gathering data present some special considerations—How involved is the researcher? How close is she to the subjects or site being studied? And how might her own social location—identity, position—affect the study? These are actually great questions for any kind of qualitative data collection but particularly apt when the researcher “enters the field,” so to speak. It is helpful to visualize where one falls on a continuum or series of continua (figure 13.1).

Let’s take a few examples and see how these continua work. Think about each of the following scenarios, and map them onto the possibilities of figure 13.1:

a nursing student during COVID doing research on patient/doctor interactions in the ICU
a graduate student accompanying a police officer during her rounds one day in a part of the city the graduate student has never visited
a professor raised Amish who goes back to her hometown to conduct research on Amish marriage practices for one month
(What if the sociologist was also a member of the OCF board and camping crew?)

Depending on how the researcher answers those questions and where they stand on the P.O. continuum, various techniques will be more or less effective. For example, in cases where the researcher is a participant, writing reflective fieldnotes at the end of the day may be the primary form of data collected. After all, if the researcher is fully participating, they probably don’t have the time or ability to pull out a notepad and ask people questions. On the other side, when a researcher is more of an observer, this is exactly what they might do, so long as the people they are interrogating are able to answer while they are going about their business. The more an observer, the more likely the researcher will engage in relatively structured interviews (using techniques discussed in chapters 11 and 12); the more a participant, the more likely casual conversations or “unstructured interviews” will form the core of the data collected. [2]

Observation and Qualitative Traditions

Observational techniques are used whenever the researcher wants to document actual behaviors and practices as they happen (not as they are explained or recorded historically). Many traditions of inquiry employ observational data collection, but not all traditions employ them in the same way. Chapter 14 will cover one very specific tradition: ethnography. Because the word ethnography is sometimes used for all fieldwork, I am calling the subject of chapter 14 deep ethnography, those studies that take as their focus the documentation through the description of a culture or subculture. Deeply immersive, this tradition of ethnography typically entails several months or even years in the field. But there are plenty of other uses of observation that are less burdensome to the researcher.

Grounded Theory, in which theories emerge from a rigorous and systematic process of induction, is amenable to both interviewing and observing forms of data collection, and some of the best Grounded Theory works employ a deft combination of both. Often closely aligned with Grounded Theory in sociology is the tradition of symbolic interactionism (SI). Interviews and observations in combination are necessary to properly address the SI question, What common understandings give meaning to people’s interactions ? Gary Alan Fine’s body of work fruitfully combines interviews and observations to build theory in response to this SI question. His Authors of the Storm: Meteorologists and the Culture of Prediction is based on field observation and interviews at the Storm Prediction Center in Oklahoma; the National Weather Service in Washington, DC; and a few regional weather forecasting outlets in the Midwest. Using what he heard and what he observed, he builds a theory of weather forecasting based on social and cultural factors that take place inside local offices. In Morel Tales: The Culture of Mushrooming , Fine investigates the world of mushroom hunters through participant observation and interviews, eventually building a theory of “naturework” to describe how the meanings people hold about the world are constructed and are socially organized—our understanding of “nature” is based on human nature, if you will.

Phenomenology typically foregrounds interviewing, as the purpose of this tradition is to gather people’s understandings and meanings about a phenomenon. However, it is quite common for phenomenological interviewing to be supplemented with some observational data, especially as a check on the “reality” of the situations being described by those interviewed. In my own work, for example, I supplemented primary interviews with working-class college students with some participant observational work on the campus in which they were studying. This helped me gather information on the general silence about class on campus, which made the salience of class in the interviews even more striking ( Hurst 2010a ).

Critical theories such as standpoint approaches, feminist theory, and Critical Race Theory are often multimethod in design. Interviews, observations (possibly participation), and archival/historical data are all employed to gather an understanding of how a group of persons experiences a particular setting or institution or phenomenon and how things can be made more just . In Making Elite Lawyers , Robert Granfield ( 1992 ) drew on both classroom observations and in-depth interviews with students to document the conservatizing effects of the Harvard legal education on working-class students, female students, and students of color. In this case, stories recounted by students were amplified by searing examples of discrimination and bias observed by Granfield and reported in full detail through his fieldnotes.

Entry Access and Issues

Managing your entry into a field site is one of the most important and nerve-wracking aspects of doing ethnographic research. Unlike interviews, which can be conducted in neutral settings, the field is an actual place with its own rules and customs that you are seeking to explore. How you “gain access” will depend on what kind of field you are entering. If your field site is a physical location with walls and a front desk (such as an office building or an elementary school), you will need permission from someone in the organization to enter and to conduct your study. Negotiating this might take weeks or even months. If your field site is a public site (such as a public dog park or city sidewalks), there is no “official” gatekeeper, but you will still probably need to find a person present at the site who can vouch for you (e.g., other dog owners or people hanging out on their stoops). [3] And if your field site is semipublic, as in a shopping mall, you might have to weigh the pros and cons of gaining “official” permission, as this might impede your progress or be difficult to ascertain whose permission to request. If you recall, many of the ethical dilemmas discussed in chapter 7 were about just such issues.

Even with official (or unofficial) permission to enter the site, however, your quest to gain access is not done. You will still need to gain the trust and permission of the people you encounter at that site. If you are a mere observer in a public setting, you probably do not need each person you observe to sign a consent form, but if you are a participant in an event or enterprise who is also taking notes and asking people questions, you probably do. Each study is unique here, so I recommend talking through the ethics of permission and consent seeking with a faculty mentor.

A separate but related issue from permission is how you will introduce yourself and your presence. How you introduce yourself to people in the field will depend very much on what level of participation you have chosen as well as whether you are an insider or outsider. Sometimes your presence will go unremarked, whereas other times you may stick out like a very sore thumb. Lareau ( 2021 ) advises that you be “vague but accurate” when explaining your presence. You don’t want to use academic jargon (unless your field is the academy!) that would be off-putting to the people you meet. Nor do you want to deceive anyone. “Hi, I’m Allison, and I am here to observe how students use career services” is accurate and simple and more effective than “I am here to study how race, class, and gender affect college students’ interactions with career services personnel.”

Researcher Note

Something that surprised me and that I still think about a lot is how to explain to respondents what I’m doing and why and how to help them feel comfortable with field work. When I was planning fieldwork for my dissertation, I was thinking of it from a researcher’s perspective and not from a respondent’s perspective. It wasn’t until I got into the field that I started to realize what a strange thing I was planning to spend my time on and asking others to allow me to do. Like, can I follow you around and write notes? This varied a bit by site—it was easier to ask to sit in on meetings, for example—but asking people to let me spend a lot of time with them was awkward for me and for them. I ended up asking if I could shadow them, a verb that seemed to make clear what I hoped to be able to do. But even this didn’t get around issues like respondents’ self-consciousness or my own. For example, respondents sometimes told me that their lives were “boring” and that they felt embarrassed to have someone else shadow them when they weren’t “doing anything.” Similarly, I would feel uncomfortable in social settings where I knew only one person. Taking field notes is not something to do at a party, and when introduced as a researcher, people would sometimes ask, “So are you researching me right now?” The answer to that is always yes. I figured out ways of taking notes that worked (I often sent myself text messages with jotted notes) and how to get more comfortable explaining what I wanted to be able to do (wanting to see the campus from the respondent’s perspective, for example), but it is still something I work to improve.

—Elizabeth M. Lee, Associate Professor of Sociology at Saint Joseph’s University, author of Class and Campus Life and coauthor of Geographies of Campus Inequality

Reflexivity in Fieldwork

As always, being aware of who you are, how you are likely to be read by others in the field, and how your own experiences and understandings of the world are likely to affect your reading of others in the field are all very important to conducting successful research. When Annette Lareau ( 2021 ) was managing a team of graduate student researchers in her study of parents and children, she noticed that her middle-class graduate students took in stride the fact that children called adults by their first names, while her working-class-origin graduate students “were shocked by what they considered the rudeness and disrespect middle-class children showed toward their parents and other adults” ( 151 ). This “finding” emerged from particular fieldnotes taken by particular research assistants. Having graduate students with different class backgrounds turned out to be useful. Being reflexive in this case meant interrogating one’s own expectations about how children should act toward adults. Creating thick descriptions in the fieldnotes (e.g., describing how children name adults) is important, but thinking about one’s response to those descriptions is equally so. Without reflection, it is possible that important aspects never even make it into the fieldnotes because they seem “unremarkable.”

The Data of Observational Work: Fieldnotes

In interview data collection, recordings of interviews are transcribed into the data of the study. This is not possible for much PO work because (1) aural recordings of observations aren’t possible and (2) conversations that take place on-site are not easily recorded. Instead, the participant observer takes notes, either during the fieldwork or at the day’s end. These notes, called “fieldnotes,” are then the primary form of data for PO work.

Writing fieldnotes takes a lot of time. Because fieldnotes are your primary form of data, you cannot be stingy with the time it takes. Most practitioners suggest it takes at least the same amount of time to write up notes as it takes to be in the field, and many suggest it takes double the time. If you spend three hours at a meeting of the organization you are observing, it is a good idea to set aside five to six hours to write out your fieldnotes. Different researchers use different strategies about how and when to do this. Somewhat obviously, the earlier you can write down your notes, the more likely they are to be accurate. Writing them down at the end of the day is thus the default practice. However, if you are plainly exhausted, spending several hours trying to recall important details may be counterproductive. Writing fieldnotes the next morning, when you are refreshed and alert, may work better.

Reseaarcher Note

How do you take fieldnotes ? Any advice for those wanting to conduct an ethnographic study?

Fieldnotes are so important, especially for qualitative researchers. A little advice when considering how you approach fieldnotes: Record as much as possible! Sometimes I write down fieldnotes, and I often audio-record them as well to transcribe later. Sometimes the space to speak what I observed is helpful and allows me to be able to go a little more in-depth or to talk out something that I might not quite have the words for just yet. Within my fieldnote, I include feelings and think about the following questions: How do I feel before data collection? How did I feel when I was engaging/watching? How do I feel after data collection? What was going on for me before this particular data collection? What did I notice about how folks were engaging? How were participants feeling, and how do I know this? Is there anything that seems different than other data collections? What might be going on in the world that might be impacting the participants? As a qualitative researcher, it’s also important to remember our own influences on the research—our feelings or current world news may impact how we observe or what we might capture in fieldnotes.

—Kim McAloney, PhD, College Student Services Administration Ecampus coordinator and instructor

What should be included in those fieldnotes? The obvious answer is “everything you observed and heard relevant to your research question.” The difficulty is that you often don’t know what is relevant to your research question when you begin, as your research question itself can develop and transform during the course of your observations. For example, let us say you begin a study of second-grade classrooms with the idea that you will observe gender dynamics between both teacher and students and students and students. But after five weeks of observation, you realize you are taking a lot of notes about how teachers validate certain attention-seeking behaviors among some students while ignoring those of others. For example, when Daisy (White female) interrupts a discussion on frogs to tell everyone she has a frog named Ribbit, the teacher smiles and asks her to tell the students what Ribbit is like. In contrast, when Solomon (Black male) interrupts a discussion on the planets to tell everyone his big brother is called Jupiter by their stepfather, the teacher frowns and shushes him. These notes spark interest in how teachers favor and develop some students over others and the role of gender, race, and class in these teacher practices. You then begin to be much more careful in recording these observations, and you are a little less attentive to the gender dynamics among students. But note that had you not been fairly thorough in the first place, these crucial insights about teacher favoritism might never have been made.

Here are some suggestions for things to include in your fieldnotes as you begin: (1) descriptions of the physical setting; (2) people in the site: who they are and how they interact with one another (what roles they are taking on); and (3) things overheard: conversations, exchanges, questions. While you should develop your own personal system for organizing these fieldnotes (computer vs. printed journal, for example), at a minimum, each set of fieldnotes should include the date, time in the field, persons observed, and location specifics. You might also add keywords to each set so that you can search by names of participants, dates, and locations. Lareau ( 2021:167 ) recommends covering the following key issues, which mnemonically spell out WRITE— W : who, what, when, where, how; R: reaction (responses to the action in question and the response to the response); I: inaction (silence or nonverbal response to an action); T: timing (how slowly or quickly someone is speaking); and E: emotions (nonverbal signs of emotion and/or stoicism).

In addition to the observational fieldnotes, if you have time, it is a good practice to write reflective memos in which you ask yourself what you have learned (either about the study or about your abilities in the field). If you don’t have time to do this for every set of fieldnotes, at least get in the practice of memoing at certain key junctures, perhaps after reading through a certain number of fieldnotes (e.g., every third day of fieldnotes, you set aside two hours to read through the notes and memo). These memos can then be appended to relevant fieldnotes. You will be grateful for them when it comes time to analyze your data, as they are a preliminary by-the-seat-of-your-pants analysis. They also help steer you toward the study you want to pursue rather than allow you to wallow in unfocused data.

Ethics of Fieldwork

Because most fieldwork requires multiple and intense interactions (even if merely observational) with real living people as they go about their business, there are potentially more ethical choices to be made. In addition to the ethics of gaining entry and permission discussed above, there are issues of accurate representation, of respecting privacy, of adequate financial compensation, and sometimes of financial and other forms of assistance (when observing/interacting with low-income persons or other marginalized populations). In other words, the ethical decision of fieldwork is never concluded by obtaining a signature on a consent form. Read this brief selection from Pascale’s ( 2021 ) methods description (observation plus interviews) to see how many ethical decisions she made:

Throughout I kept detailed ethnographic field and interview records, which included written notes, recorded notes, and photographs. I asked everyone who was willing to sit for a formal interview to speak only for themselves and offered each of them a prepaid Visa Card worth $25–40. I also offered everyone the opportunity to keep the card and erase the tape completely at any time they were dissatisfied with the interview in any way. No one asked for the tape to be erased; rather, people remarked on the interview being a really good experience because they felt heard. Each interview was professionally transcribed and for the most part the excerpts in this book are literal transcriptions. In a few places, the excerpta have been edited to reduce colloquial features of speech (e.g., you know, like, um) and some recursive elements common to spoken language. A few excerpts were placed into standard English for clarity. I made this choice for the benefit of readers who might otherwise find the insights and ideas harder to parse in the original. However, I have to acknowledge this as an act of class-based violence. I tried to keep the original phrasing whenever possible. ( 235 )

Summary Checklist for Successful Participant Observation

The following are ten suggestions for being successful in the field, slightly paraphrased from Patton ( 2002:331 ). Here, I take those ten suggestions and turn them into an extended “checklist” to use when designing and conducting fieldwork.

Consider all possible approaches to your field and your position relative to that field (see figure 13.2). Choose wisely and purposely. If you have access to a particular site or are part of a particular culture, consider the advantages (and disadvantages) of pursuing research in that area. Clarify the amount of disclosure you are willing to share with those you are observing, and justify that decision.
Take thorough and descriptive field notes. Consider how you will record them. Where your research is located will affect what kinds of field notes you can take and when, but do not fail to write them! Commit to a regular recording time. Your field notes will probably be the primary data source you collect, so your study’s success will depend on thick descriptions and analytical memos you write to yourself about what you are observing.
Permit yourself to be flexible. Consider alternative lines of inquiry as you proceed. You might enter the field expecting to find something only to have your attention grabbed by something else entirely. This is perfectly fine (and, in some traditions, absolutely crucial for excellent results). When you do see your attention shift to an emerging new focus, take a step back, look at your original research design, and make careful decisions about what might need revising to adapt to these new circumstances.
Include triangulated data as a means of checking your observations. If you are that ICU nurse watching patient/doctor interactions, you might want to add a few interviews with patients to verify your interpretation of the interaction. Or perhaps pull some public data on the number of arrests for jaywalking if you are the student accompanying police on their rounds to find out if the large number of arrests you witnessed was typical.
Respect the people you are witnessing and recording, and allow them to speak for themselves whenever possible. Using direct quotes (recorded in your field notes or as supplementary recorded interviews) is another way to check the validity of the analyses of your observations. When designing your research, think about how you can ensure the voices of those you are interested in get included.
Choose your informants wisely. Who are they relative to the field you are exploring? What are the limitations (ethical and strategic) in using those particular informants, guides, and gatekeepers? Limit your reliance on them to the extent possible.
Consider all the stages of fieldwork, and have appropriate plans for each. Recognize that different talents are required at different stages of the data-collection process. In the beginning, you will probably spend a great deal of time building trust and rapport and will have less time to focus on what is actually occurring. That’s normal. Later, however, you will want to be more focused on and disciplined in collecting data while also still attending to maintaining relationships necessary for your study’s success. Sometimes, especially when you have been invited to the site, those granting access to you will ask for feedback. Be strategic about when giving that feedback is appropriate. Consider how to extricate yourself from the site and the participants when your study is coming to an end. Have an ethical exit plan.
Allow yourself to be immersed in the scene you are observing. This is true even if you are observing a site as an outsider just one time. Make an effort to see things through the eyes of the participants while at the same time maintaining an analytical stance. This is a tricky balance to do, of course, and is more of an art than a science. Practice it. Read about how others have achieved it.
Create a practice of separating your descriptive notes from your analytical observations. This may be as clear as dividing a sheet of paper into two columns, one for description only and the other for questions or interpretation (as we saw in chapter 11 on interviewing), or it may mean separating out the time you dedicate to descriptions from the time you reread and think deeply about those detailed descriptions. However you decide to do it, recognize that these are two separate activities, both of which are essential to your study’s success.
As always with qualitative research, be reflective and reflexive. Do not forget how your own experience and social location may affect both your interpretation of what you observe and the very things you observe themselves (e.g., where a patient says more forgiving things about an observably rude doctor because they read you, a nursing student, as likely to report any negative comments back to the doctor). Keep a research journal!

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Qualitative Research:...

Qualitative Research: Observational methods in health care settings

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Peer review
Nicholas Mays a , director of health services research ,
Catherine Pope , director of health services research
a King's Fund Institute, London W2 4HT
b Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University of Leicester, Leicester LE1 6TP
a Correspondence to: Mr Mays

Clinicians used to observing individual patients, and epidemiologists trained to observe the course of disease, may be forgiven for misunderstanding the term observational method as used in qualitative research. In contrast to the clinician or epidemiologist, the qualitative researcher systematically watches people and events to find out about behaviours and interactions in natural settings. Observation, in this sense, epitomises the idea of the researcher as the research instrument. It involves “going into the field”—describing and analysing what has been seen. In health care settings this method has been insightful and illuminating, but it is not without pitfalls for the unprepared researcher.

The term “observational methods” seems to be a source of some confusion in medical research circles. Qualitative observational studies are very different from the category of observational studies (non-experimental research designs) used in epidemiology, nor are they like the clinical observation of a patient. Observational methods used in social science involve the systematic, detailed observation of behaviour and talk: watching and recording what people do and say. Goffman neatly captured this distinct research method with his recommendation that, in order to learn about a social group, one should “submit oneself in the company of the members to the daily round of petty contingencies to which they are subject.” 1 Thus, observational methods can involve asking questions and analysing documents, but the primary focus on observation makes it distinct from a qualitative research interview (see the next paper in this series) or history taking during patient consultation. Another crucial point about qualitative observation is that it takes place in natural settings not experimental ones; hence, this type of work is often described as “naturalistic research.”

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Research roles

In an attempt to minimise the impact on the environment being studied the researcher sometimes adopts a “participant observer” role, becoming involved in the activities taking place while also observing them. The degree of participation varies according to the nature of the setting and the research questions, but broadly corresponds to the first two research roles described in Gold's typology (box 1). 2 There are obviously important ethical considerations about the decision to conduct covert research, and for this reason examples of this type of observational study are rare. However, its use may be justified in some settings, and it has been used to research sensitive topics such as homosexuality 3 and difficult to access areas such as fascist organisations 4 and football hooliganism. 5 Overt research—Gold's “participant as observer”—may pose fewer ethical dilemmas, but this may be offset by the group or individuals reacting to being observed. At its most basic, having a researcher observing actions may stimulate modifications in behaviour or action—the so-called “Hawthorne effect,” 6 or encourage introspection or self questioning among those being researched. In his classic study of street gangs in the United States, Whyte recounted how a key group member said, “You've slowed me up plenty since you've been down here. Now when I do something I have to think what Bill Whyte would want to know about it and how I can explain it. Before I used to do things by instinct.” 7

In addition to these potential problems for the subjects of observational research, there are important considerations for researchers “entering the field.” In essence these involve “getting in and getting out.” In the initial phases there may be problems gaining access to a setting, and then in striking up sufficient rapport and empathy with the group to enable research to be conducted. In medical settings, such as a hospital ward, this may involve negotiating with several different staff groups ranging from consultants and junior doctors, to nurse managers, staff nurses, social workers, and auxiliary professions. Once “inside” there is the problem of avoiding “going native”; that is, becoming so immersed in the group culture that the research agenda is lost, or that it becomes extremely difficult or emotionally draining to exit the field and conclude the data collection.

Observation of transactions with patients presenting to casualty departments found that staff classified patients into “normal rubbish” (the inappropriate attenders) and “good” patients, who were viewed as more deserving.

**FIGURE OMITTED**

What can observation tell us that other methods cannot?

Given these difficulties, observational methods may seem a peculiar choice for studying health and health services. However, an important advantage of observation is that it can help to overcome the discrepancy between what people say and what they actually do. It circumvents the biases inherent in the accounts people give of their actions caused by factors such as the wish to present themselves in a good light, differences in recall, selectivity, and the influences of the roles they occupy. For these reasons, observational methods are particularly well suited to the study of the working of organisations and how the people within them perform their functions. It may also uncover behaviours or routines of which the participants themselves may be unaware. For example, Jeffery's observation of casualty wards in Edinburgh indicated that, because of the conflicting demands and pressures on staff, some patients, who were seen as inappropriate attenders, were labelled as “normal rubbish” and treated differently from “good” patients, who were viewed as more deserving. 8 A similar picture emerges from Hughes's work on the decisions made by reception clerks when patients present themselves at casualty department. 9 It is unlikely that interviews alone would have elicited these different patterns of care. Indeed the labelling of certain cases as “normal rubbish” may have been so embedded in the culture of the casualty setting that only an outsider or newcomer to the scene would have considered it noteworthy.

Another observational study provides an example of how qualitative work can build on existing quantitative research. 10 Against the background of large variations in rates of common surgical procedures such as hysterectomy, cholecystectomy, and tonsillectomy, Bloor observed ear, nose, and throat outpatient clinics to see how decisions to admit children for surgery were made. He systematically analysed how surgeons made their decisions to operate and discovered that individual doctors had different “rules of thumb” for coming to a decision. While one surgeon might take clinical signs as the chief indication for surgery, another might be prepared to operate in the absence of such indications at the time of consultation if there was evidence that repeated episodes of tonsillitis were severely affecting a child's education. Understanding the behaviour of these surgeons, knowing why they made their decisions, provided considerable insight into how the variation in surgical rates occurred.

Similar variation and patterning occurs in the statistics on inpatient waiting lists: some surgeons have long lists, others do not; some specialties have long waits, others do not. An observational study showed that rules and routines akin to those discovered by Bloor could be discerned in the day to day management of waiting lists. 11 Surgical and administrative preferences were important in deciding who came off the list. Different reasons for admitting a patient might range from case mix demands for teaching juniors, through ensuring a balanced list, to the ease with which a patient could be contacted and offered admission. Thus, observing how waiting lists work can indicate which policy and administrative changes are likely to have an impact in reducing lists and which are not: a policy which assumed that waiting lists operated as first come, first served queues would be unlikely to affect the day to day routines described above.

Some rules about observation

Before any recording and analysis can take place, the setting to be observed has to be chosen. As in other qualitative research, this sampling is seldom statistically based. Instead, it is likely to be purposive, whereby the researcher deliberately samples a particular group or setting (see Mays and Pope 12 in this series for more on this). The idea of this type of sampling is not to generalise to the whole population but to indicate common links or categories shared between the setting observed and others like it. At its most powerful, the single case can demonstrate features or provide categories relevant to a wide number of settings. Goffman's observation of mental hospitals in the 1960s generated the valuable concept of the “total institution,” of which the asylum was one example alongside others such as prisons and monasteries. 1

Qualitative observation involves watching and recording what people say and do. As it is impossible to record everything, this process is inevitably selective and relies heavily on the researcher to act as the research instrument and document the world he or she observes. Therefore it is vital that the observations are systematically recorded and analysed, either through the traditional medium of field notes written during or immediately after the events occur or by using audio or video recording facilities. From his unique position as a patient in a tuberculosis sanatorium, Roth was able to record events as they happened, 13 but such situations are rare and most researchers, whether in covert or more participative roles, find that recording necessitates the development of memory skills and frequent trips to the lavatory to “write up.”

The systematic recording of data in qualitative observation distinguishes it from other types of observation such as a tourist recording with a camcorder or a nosey neighbour peering over the fence. Even with video and sound recording it is impossible to “get everything,” but as far as possible the researcher aims to record exactly what happened, including his or her own feelings and responses to the situations witnessed. The subjective nature of this type of research contrasts with the objective stance aspired to in the experimental method, but in fact it is a crucial component of the process of analysing qualitative observational data. The researcher usually keeps a field diary or record of the research process to detail events, personal reactions to events, and changes in his or her views over time. Frequently this is the basis of tentative hypotheses or the evolution of systems of classification. In developing classifications or hypotheses it is particularly important to detail any contradictory or negative cases—the unusual, out of the ordinary things which often reveal most about the setting or situation. Tentative classifications and the search for negative cases during the data collection are important facets of the analytic technique used in observational research.

The fieldnotes gathered during observational research are likely to be detailed, highly descriptive accounts and are therefore cumbersome. As descriptions alone they cannot provide explanations. The researcher's task is to sift and decode the data to make sense of the situation, events, and interactions observed. Often this analytical process starts during the data collection phase, a quite different model of the research process to that found in quantitative research, where data collection is completed before any analysis begins (box 2).

Just as the data are systematically recorded, so they are also systematically analysed. Various ways of dealing with observational data have been described, including “analytic induction” and “constant comparison.” 14 Stripped of their theoretical trappings, these methods are all variants of content analysis and involve an iterative process of developing categories from the transcripts or fieldnotes, testing them against hypotheses, and refining them. This analytical process is described in detail by Bloor, based on the observational study of ear, nose, and throat clinics described earlier (box 3). 15

Box 3 AnalysisStages in the analysis of field notes in a qualitative study of ear, nose, and throat surgeons' disposal decisions for children referred for possible tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T&A) 11

Provisional classification—For each surgeon all cases categorised according to the disposal category used (for example, T&A or tonsillectomy alone)

Identification of provisional case features—Common features of cases in each disposal category identified (for example, most T&A cases found to have three main clinical signs present)

Scrutiny of deviant cases—Include in (2) or modify

to accommodate deviant cases (for example, T&A performed when only two of three signs present)

Identification of shared case features—Features common to other disposal categories (history of several episodes of tonsillitis, for example)

Derivation of surgeons' decision rules—From the common case features (for example, case history more important than physical examination)

Derivation of surgeons' search procedures (for each decision rule)—The particular clinical signs looked for by each surgeon

Repeat (2) to (6) for each disposal category

As with quantitative work, it is important that evidence from the data is presented to support the conclusions reached. This can take the form of examples of specific cases, descriptions of events, or quotations. The validity of observational accounts relies on the truthful and systematic representation of the research; in many ways it is honesty which separates the observational account from a novel. Hughes says that observational studies should communicate the culture and rules of the setting well enough to allow another researcher to learn them and “pass” as a member of the group. 16 This is not an easy task, and observational research is therefore particularly demanding of the individual researcher.

This brief review has indicated how observational methods can be used to “reach the parts that other methods cannot.” Done well, there is no reason why observation should not be as systematic, rigorous, or valid as other research styles and deserve its place in the health researcher's methodological tool box.

The Ultimate Guide to Qualitative Research - Part 1: The Basics

Introduction and overview
What is qualitative research?
What is qualitative data?
Examples of qualitative data
Qualitative vs. quantitative research
Mixed methods
Qualitative research preparation
Theoretical perspective
Theoretical framework
Literature reviews
Research question
Conceptual framework
Conceptual vs. theoretical framework

Data collection

Qualitative research methods
Focus groups

What is observational research?

Uses for observational research, observations in research, the different types of observational research, conducting observational studies, uses with other methods, challenges of observational studies.

Case studies
Ethnographical research
Ethical considerations
Confidentiality and privacy
Power dynamics
Reflexivity

Observational research

Observational research is a social research technique that involves the direct observation of phenomena in their natural setting.

An observational study is a non-experimental method to examine how research participants behave. Observational research is typically associated with qualitative methods , where the data ultimately require some reorganization and analysis .

Contemporary research is often associated with controlled experiments or randomized controlled trials, which involve testing or developing a theory in a controlled setting. Such an approach is appropriate for many physical and material sciences that rely on objective concepts such as the melting point of substances or the mass of objects. On the other hand, observational studies help capture socially constructed or subjective phenomena whose fundamental essence might change when taken out of their natural setting.

What is an example of observational research?

For example, imagine a study where you want to understand the actions and behaviors of single parents taking care of children. A controlled experiment might prove challenging, given the possibility that the behaviors of parents and their children will change if you isolate them in a lab or an otherwise unfamiliar context.

Instead, researchers pursuing such inquiries can observe participants in their natural environment, collecting data on what people do, say, and behave in interaction with others. Non-experimental research methods like observation are less about testing theories than learning something new to contribute to theories.

The goal of the observational study is to collect data about what people do and say. Observational data is helpful in several fields:

market research
health services research
educational research
user research

Observational studies are valuable in any domain where researchers want to learn about people's actions and behaviors in a natural setting. For example, observational studies in market research might seek out information about the target market of a product or service by identifying the needs or problems of prospective consumers. In medical contexts, observers might be interested in how patients cope with a particular medical treatment or interact with doctors and nurses under certain conditions.

Researchers may still be hung up on science being all about experiments to the point where they may overlook the empirical contribution that observations bring to research and theory. With that in mind, let's look at the strengths and weaknesses of observations in research .

Strengths of observational research

Observational research, especially those conducted in natural settings, can generate more insightful knowledge about social processes or rituals that one cannot fully understand by reading a plain-text description in a book or an online resource. Think about a cookbook with recipes, then think about a series of videos showing a cook making the same recipes. Both are informative, but the videos are often easier to understand as the cook can describe the recipe and show how to follow the steps at the same time. When you can observe what is happening, you can emulate the process for yourself.

Observing also allows researchers to create rich data about phenomena that cannot be explained through numbers. The quality of a theatrical performance, for example, cannot easily be reduced to a set of numbers. Qualitatively, a researcher can analyze aspects gleaned from observing that performance and create a working theory about the quality of that performance. Through data analysis, the researcher can identify patterns related to the aesthetics and creativity of the performance to provide a framework to judge the quality of other performances.

Weaknesses of observational research

Science is about organizing knowledge for the purposes of identifying the aspects of a concept or of determining cause-and-effect relationships between different phenomena. Experiments look to empirically accomplish these tasks by controlling certain variables to determine how other variables change under changing conditions. Those conducting observational research, on the other hand, exert no such control, which makes replication by other researchers difficult or even impossible when observing dynamic environments.

Observational studies take on various forms. There are various types of observational research, each of which has strengths and weaknesses. These types are organized below by the extent to which an experimenter intrudes upon or controls the environment.

Naturalistic observation

Naturalistic observation refers to a method where researchers study participants in their natural environment without manipulating variables or intervening in any way. It provides a realistic snapshot of behavior as it occurs in real-life settings, thereby enhancing ecological validity.

Examples of naturalistic observation include people-watching in public places, observing animal behaviors in the wild, and longitudinally studying children's social development at school. This method can reveal insights about behavior and relationships that might not surface in experimental designs, such as patterns of social interaction, routines, or responses to environmental changes.

Participant observation

Participant observation is similar to naturalistic observation, except that the researcher is part of the natural environment they are observing. In such studies, the researcher is also interested in rituals or cultural practices where they can only determine their value by actually experiencing them firsthand. For example, any individual can understand the basic rules of baseball by watching a game or following a team. Participant observation, on the other hand, allows for direct participation to develop a better sense of team dynamics and relationships among fellow players.

Most commonly, this process involves the researcher inserting themselves into a group to observe behavior that otherwise would not be accessible by observing from afar. Participant observation can capture rich data from the interactions with those who are observed to the reflections of the researchers themselves.

Controlled observation

A more structured observation involves capturing the behaviors of research participants in an isolated environment. Case-control studies have a greater resemblance to experimental research while still relying on observational research methods. Researchers may utilize a case-control study when they want to establish the causation of a particular phenomenon.

For example, a researcher may want to establish a structured observation of a control group and an experimental group, each with randomly assigned research participants, to observe the effects of variables such as distractions on people completing a particular task. By subjecting the experimental group to distractions such as noise and lights, researchers can observe the time it takes participants to complete a task and determine causation accordingly.

Longitudinal study

Among the different types of observational research, this observational method is quite arduous and time-consuming as it requires observation of people or events over extended periods. Researchers should consider longitudinal observations when their inquiry involves variables that can only be observed over time. After all, variables such as literacy development or weight loss cannot be fully captured in any particular moment of observation. Longitudinal studies keep track of the same research participants or events through multiple observations to document changes to or patterns in behavior.

A cohort study is a specific type of longitudinal study where researchers observe participants with similar traits (e.g., a similar risk factor or biological characteristic). Cohort studies aim to observe multiple participants over time to identify a relationship between observed phenomena and a common characteristic.

All forms of observational or field research benefit extensively from the special capabilities of qualitative research tools like ATLAS.ti . Our software can accommodate the major forms of data , such as text, audio, video, and images . The ATLAS.ti platform can help you organize all your observations , whatever method you employ.

Whatever your research, make it happen with ATLAS.ti.

Powerful analytical tools at your fingertips. Try for free by clicking here.

Like any other study design, observational studies begin by posing research questions . Inquiries common when employing observational methods include the study of different cultures, interactions between people from different communities, or people in particular circumstances warranting further study (e.g., people coping with a rare disease).

Generally, a research question that seeks to learn more about a relatively unfamiliar phenomenon would be best suited for observational research. On the other hand, quantitative methods or experimental research methods may be more suitable for inquiries where the theory about a social phenomenon is fairly established.

Study design

Study design for observational research involves thinking about who to observe, where they should be observed, and what the researcher should look for during observation. Many events can occur in a natural, dynamic environment in a short period, so it is challenging to document everything. If the researcher knows what they want to observe, they can pursue a structured observation which involves taking notes on a limited set of phenomena.

The actual data collection for an observational study can take several forms. Note-taking is common in observational research, where the researcher writes down what they see during the course of their observation. The goal of this method is to provide a record of the events that are observed to determine patterns and themes useful for theoretical development.

Observation can also involve taking pictures or recording audio for a richer understanding of social phenomena. Video recorded from observations can also provide data that the researcher can use to document the facial expressions, gestures, and other body language of research participants.

Note that there are ethical considerations when conducting observational research. Researchers should respect the privacy and confidentiality of their research participants to ensure they are not adversely affected by the research. Researchers should obtain informed consent from participants before any observation where possible.

Observational studies can be supplemented with other methods to further contextualize the research inquiry. Researchers can conduct interviews or focus groups with research participants to gather data about what they recall about their actions and behaviors in a natural setting. Focus groups, in particular, provide further opportunities to observe participants interacting with each other. In both cases, these research methods are ideal where the researcher needs to follow up with research participants about the evidence they've collected regarding their behaviors or actions.

As with many other methods in qualitative research , conducting an observational study is time-consuming. While experimental methods can quickly generate data , observational research relies on documenting events and interactions in detail that can be analyzed for theoretical development.

Unstructured data

One common critique of observational research is that it lacks the structure inherent to experimental research, which has concepts such as selection bias and interrater reliability to ensure research quality. On the other hand, qualitative research relies on the assumption that the study and its data are presented transparently and honestly . Under this principle, researchers are responsible for convincing their audiences that the assertions they make are connected empirically to the observations they have made and the data they have collected.

Researcher bias

In most qualitative research, but especially in observational research, the most important data collection instrument is the researcher themselves. This raises issues of bias and subjectivity influencing the collection and interpretation of the data.

Later in this guide, there will be discussion of reflexivity , a concept where the researcher comprehensively accounts for their place in the research relative to others in the environment. For now, it's important to know that social science researchers can and do adequately address critiques of researcher bias to maintain the empirical nature of their observational research.

Conduct your observational study with ATLAS.ti

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Understanding qualitative observation

Last updated

20 March 2023

Reviewed by

Tanya Williams

You can easily analyze quantitative data, making it an ideal resource for researchers looking to understand complex topics. But not everything is quantifiable.

Analyze qualitative observations

Get better insights into customer behavior when you analyze qualitative observation data in Dovetail

What is qualitative observation?

Because research often relies on data that we can't easily put into objective numbers, researchers rely on non-numerical data for some of their studies.

Qualitative observation is one way of gathering that data. When researchers deploy this method, they collect their data by directly observing the people, behaviors, or events they're studying.

Qualitative observation relies on a more subjective approach than quantitative analysis, but it remains a powerful tool for suitable areas.

Qualitative vs. quantitative observation

Many people wonder which method is better. Is qualitative observation better than quantitative, or vice-versa? The answer depends entirely on the subject you’re studying.

You should always opt for obtaining hard, objective data when possible. When it isn't possible, qualitative observation can fill in many missing gaps.

Ultimately, researchers shouldn't view these as two competing methodologies. They are great tools for developing a complete picture of complex topics.

Characteristics of qualitative observation

Researchers choose qualitative observation to generate meaningful and context-specific insights into social phenomena that are otherwise hard to measure.

They must rely on distinct characteristics to guide their research and help them interpret the data they uncover to gain accurate insights without quantifiable data.

Here are some of these characteristics:

Naturalistic inquiry

Qualitative observation rarely occurs in controlled laboratory environments, as naturalistic inquiry studies people in their natural context. When people are in a laboratory setting, they are prone to change their behavior. More natural settings put them at ease and make them feel less like study subjects.

Participant observation

To gain a deeper understanding of the topic you’re studying, you can actively participate in the activities or events you’re observing. You learn more about the subject by engaging directly with it and recording your experiences.

Sensitivity to context

Social norms, power dynamics, and historical factors can shape beliefs and behaviors.

For example, a researcher in a position of power over a participant may make the person feel uncomfortable. Residents of countries with a long history of slavery may find race-related topics more challenging to discuss than in other countries.

These factors become variables that a qualitative observer must control for. It’s vital to be aware of how a person's experiences might shape their perceptions.

Reflexivity

Researchers are humans too. They're subject to the same factors that impact their subject's beliefs. Researchers must actively examine how their perceptions and biases may cloud how they interpret the data.

Empathic neutrality

In addition to using reflexivity to examine their biases, researchers must remain neutral and unbiased when conducting their study. They must empathize with the perspectives and experiences of the participants, even when they disagree with them.

Researchers should aim to understand and appreciate the participants' experiences without imposing their views or judgments on them.

Subjectivity

Objectivity is impossible with qualitative observation. Researchers who employ qualitative observation must be aware of this fact. Acknowledging that they won't gain objective truth about human behavior and experience while using the method is vital. It allows them to be open to alternative interpretations of the data, all of which may be valid.

While engaging in qualitative observations, researchers must recognize the unique aspects of each individual and situation they’re studying. This involves being attentive to the nuances of the data and avoiding generalizations or stereotypes that may overlook the complexity of human behavior and experience.

Inductive reasoning

Studying objective subjects is often deductive: Researchers start with a hypothesis and gather data to test it. Subjective areas of study are the opposite. Inductive reasoning involves gathering and examining the data to develop theories and insights into what they learned.

What are the types of qualitative observation?

Qualitative observation is a powerful research method you can apply to many situations. As each situation is unique, choosing the right approach is essential.

You can employ several types of qualitative observation, which all have strengths and limitations:

Direct observation

This method allows researchers to observe and record behavior as it occurs in its natural setting. This type of observation can come in many forms; researchers may casually observe the subject or engage in a more structured, systematic observation.

Direct observation can be beneficial for studying complex social interactions and behaviors that are difficult to capture through other methods.

Case studies

These involve an in-depth analysis of an individual, group, or event. Researchers collect as much information as possible about the case under investigation, reading interviews, documentation, and more to develop their understanding.

Case studies are particularly useful for studying rare or unusual phenomena you may not easily observe through other methods.

Researcher as participant

In this method, the researcher becomes part of the group and participates in its activities and interactions. This approach can give researchers a unique way to better understand how the people they're studying feel about a topic.

However, the researcher's role in the group can influence group behavior. Researchers who use this method must be extra careful to be neutral participants.

Sometimes, the best way to understand how someone feels about something is simply to talk to them. Interviews can take two forms:

Structured , with a pre-defined set of questions

Unstructured , with open-ended questions and flexible conversation.

Well-conducted interviews can provide rich, detailed data about individual experiences, attitudes, and beliefs.

Focus groups

In this type of interview, researchers bring together a small group to discuss a specific topic or issue. They can facilitate the discussion and record what the study participants say.

Focus groups can provide insights into group dynamics and the range of perspectives and opinions.

Examples of qualitative observation

Let’s look at real-world examples of how researchers use qualitative observation in different professions.

An ethnographer studying the social dynamics, cultural practices, and relationships within the community might live among the community members and observe their behavior. Doing so can give them a deeper understanding of how the community thinks and operates.

A psychologist studying the subjective experiences of mental illness may want to understand the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors associated with specific disorders. The psychologist can gain insights into how people experience their symptoms through detailed interviews.

A sociologist studying protesters' motivations, perspectives, and social movements might observe and record their behavior. This information will help the researcher understand how individuals and groups approach protests and express their political views.

A teacher may be studying students' learning and communication patterns in the classroom. The teacher can learn how their students work together and alone to solve problems and share knowledge by observing and recording their interactions.

A case study researcher may want to study the experiences, behaviors, and perspectives of a single individual or group, such as a patient with a rare disease. They might conduct in-depth interviews and observe the patient’s behavior. Studying enough examples in this way can help the researcher understand their subject’s unique situation.

A journalist may be researching the stories and experiences of people impacted by a particular issue, such as homelessness or immigration. The journalist can gain insights into their struggles, challenges, and aspirations by conducting interviews.

An artist seeking to capture the unique qualities and character of a particular location or community through their artwork might observe the place or people firsthand. This way, the artist can create artwork that reflects the perspective of the subject matter.

A software development team developing a new product might invite potential users to try it out. Observing their experiences as they navigate the product's various functions means the team can gain important insights. It can help them determine where usability issues may occur and refine the product’s interface or instructions.

Qualitative observation is a great way to generate meaningful insights into subjects where numbers aren’t enough. Using the correct methods means you’ll have rich, valuable data for your study even when it’s not easily measurable.

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Home » Qualitative Research – Methods, Analysis Types and Guide

Qualitative Research – Methods, Analysis Types and Guide

Table of Contents

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is a type of research methodology that focuses on exploring and understanding people’s beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and experiences through the collection and analysis of non-numerical data. It seeks to answer research questions through the examination of subjective data, such as interviews, focus groups, observations, and textual analysis.

Qualitative research aims to uncover the meaning and significance of social phenomena, and it typically involves a more flexible and iterative approach to data collection and analysis compared to quantitative research. Qualitative research is often used in fields such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, and education.

Qualitative Research Methods

Qualitative Research Methods are as follows:

One-to-One Interview

This method involves conducting an interview with a single participant to gain a detailed understanding of their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. One-to-one interviews can be conducted in-person, over the phone, or through video conferencing. The interviewer typically uses open-ended questions to encourage the participant to share their thoughts and feelings. One-to-one interviews are useful for gaining detailed insights into individual experiences.

Focus Groups

This method involves bringing together a group of people to discuss a specific topic in a structured setting. The focus group is led by a moderator who guides the discussion and encourages participants to share their thoughts and opinions. Focus groups are useful for generating ideas and insights, exploring social norms and attitudes, and understanding group dynamics.

Ethnographic Studies

This method involves immersing oneself in a culture or community to gain a deep understanding of its norms, beliefs, and practices. Ethnographic studies typically involve long-term fieldwork and observation, as well as interviews and document analysis. Ethnographic studies are useful for understanding the cultural context of social phenomena and for gaining a holistic understanding of complex social processes.

Text Analysis

This method involves analyzing written or spoken language to identify patterns and themes. Text analysis can be quantitative or qualitative. Qualitative text analysis involves close reading and interpretation of texts to identify recurring themes, concepts, and patterns. Text analysis is useful for understanding media messages, public discourse, and cultural trends.

This method involves an in-depth examination of a single person, group, or event to gain an understanding of complex phenomena. Case studies typically involve a combination of data collection methods, such as interviews, observations, and document analysis, to provide a comprehensive understanding of the case. Case studies are useful for exploring unique or rare cases, and for generating hypotheses for further research.

Process of Observation

This method involves systematically observing and recording behaviors and interactions in natural settings. The observer may take notes, use audio or video recordings, or use other methods to document what they see. Process of observation is useful for understanding social interactions, cultural practices, and the context in which behaviors occur.

Record Keeping

This method involves keeping detailed records of observations, interviews, and other data collected during the research process. Record keeping is essential for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of the data, and for providing a basis for analysis and interpretation.

This method involves collecting data from a large sample of participants through a structured questionnaire. Surveys can be conducted in person, over the phone, through mail, or online. Surveys are useful for collecting data on attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, and for identifying patterns and trends in a population.

Qualitative data analysis is a process of turning unstructured data into meaningful insights. It involves extracting and organizing information from sources like interviews, focus groups, and surveys. The goal is to understand people’s attitudes, behaviors, and motivations

Qualitative Research Analysis Methods

Qualitative Research analysis methods involve a systematic approach to interpreting and making sense of the data collected in qualitative research. Here are some common qualitative data analysis methods:

Thematic Analysis

This method involves identifying patterns or themes in the data that are relevant to the research question. The researcher reviews the data, identifies keywords or phrases, and groups them into categories or themes. Thematic analysis is useful for identifying patterns across multiple data sources and for generating new insights into the research topic.

Content Analysis

This method involves analyzing the content of written or spoken language to identify key themes or concepts. Content analysis can be quantitative or qualitative. Qualitative content analysis involves close reading and interpretation of texts to identify recurring themes, concepts, and patterns. Content analysis is useful for identifying patterns in media messages, public discourse, and cultural trends.

Discourse Analysis

This method involves analyzing language to understand how it constructs meaning and shapes social interactions. Discourse analysis can involve a variety of methods, such as conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, and narrative analysis. Discourse analysis is useful for understanding how language shapes social interactions, cultural norms, and power relationships.

Grounded Theory Analysis

This method involves developing a theory or explanation based on the data collected. Grounded theory analysis starts with the data and uses an iterative process of coding and analysis to identify patterns and themes in the data. The theory or explanation that emerges is grounded in the data, rather than preconceived hypotheses. Grounded theory analysis is useful for understanding complex social phenomena and for generating new theoretical insights.

Narrative Analysis

This method involves analyzing the stories or narratives that participants share to gain insights into their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs. Narrative analysis can involve a variety of methods, such as structural analysis, thematic analysis, and discourse analysis. Narrative analysis is useful for understanding how individuals construct their identities, make sense of their experiences, and communicate their values and beliefs.

Phenomenological Analysis

This method involves analyzing how individuals make sense of their experiences and the meanings they attach to them. Phenomenological analysis typically involves in-depth interviews with participants to explore their experiences in detail. Phenomenological analysis is useful for understanding subjective experiences and for developing a rich understanding of human consciousness.

Comparative Analysis

This method involves comparing and contrasting data across different cases or groups to identify similarities and differences. Comparative analysis can be used to identify patterns or themes that are common across multiple cases, as well as to identify unique or distinctive features of individual cases. Comparative analysis is useful for understanding how social phenomena vary across different contexts and groups.

Applications of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research has many applications across different fields and industries. Here are some examples of how qualitative research is used:

Market Research: Qualitative research is often used in market research to understand consumer attitudes, behaviors, and preferences. Researchers conduct focus groups and one-on-one interviews with consumers to gather insights into their experiences and perceptions of products and services.
Health Care: Qualitative research is used in health care to explore patient experiences and perspectives on health and illness. Researchers conduct in-depth interviews with patients and their families to gather information on their experiences with different health care providers and treatments.
Education: Qualitative research is used in education to understand student experiences and to develop effective teaching strategies. Researchers conduct classroom observations and interviews with students and teachers to gather insights into classroom dynamics and instructional practices.
Social Work : Qualitative research is used in social work to explore social problems and to develop interventions to address them. Researchers conduct in-depth interviews with individuals and families to understand their experiences with poverty, discrimination, and other social problems.
Anthropology : Qualitative research is used in anthropology to understand different cultures and societies. Researchers conduct ethnographic studies and observe and interview members of different cultural groups to gain insights into their beliefs, practices, and social structures.
Psychology : Qualitative research is used in psychology to understand human behavior and mental processes. Researchers conduct in-depth interviews with individuals to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Public Policy : Qualitative research is used in public policy to explore public attitudes and to inform policy decisions. Researchers conduct focus groups and one-on-one interviews with members of the public to gather insights into their perspectives on different policy issues.

How to Conduct Qualitative Research

Here are some general steps for conducting qualitative research:

Identify your research question: Qualitative research starts with a research question or set of questions that you want to explore. This question should be focused and specific, but also broad enough to allow for exploration and discovery.
Select your research design: There are different types of qualitative research designs, including ethnography, case study, grounded theory, and phenomenology. You should select a design that aligns with your research question and that will allow you to gather the data you need to answer your research question.
Recruit participants: Once you have your research question and design, you need to recruit participants. The number of participants you need will depend on your research design and the scope of your research. You can recruit participants through advertisements, social media, or through personal networks.
Collect data: There are different methods for collecting qualitative data, including interviews, focus groups, observation, and document analysis. You should select the method or methods that align with your research design and that will allow you to gather the data you need to answer your research question.
Analyze data: Once you have collected your data, you need to analyze it. This involves reviewing your data, identifying patterns and themes, and developing codes to organize your data. You can use different software programs to help you analyze your data, or you can do it manually.
Interpret data: Once you have analyzed your data, you need to interpret it. This involves making sense of the patterns and themes you have identified, and developing insights and conclusions that answer your research question. You should be guided by your research question and use your data to support your conclusions.
Communicate results: Once you have interpreted your data, you need to communicate your results. This can be done through academic papers, presentations, or reports. You should be clear and concise in your communication, and use examples and quotes from your data to support your findings.

Examples of Qualitative Research

Here are some real-time examples of qualitative research:

Customer Feedback: A company may conduct qualitative research to understand the feedback and experiences of its customers. This may involve conducting focus groups or one-on-one interviews with customers to gather insights into their attitudes, behaviors, and preferences.
Healthcare : A healthcare provider may conduct qualitative research to explore patient experiences and perspectives on health and illness. This may involve conducting in-depth interviews with patients and their families to gather information on their experiences with different health care providers and treatments.
Education : An educational institution may conduct qualitative research to understand student experiences and to develop effective teaching strategies. This may involve conducting classroom observations and interviews with students and teachers to gather insights into classroom dynamics and instructional practices.
Social Work: A social worker may conduct qualitative research to explore social problems and to develop interventions to address them. This may involve conducting in-depth interviews with individuals and families to understand their experiences with poverty, discrimination, and other social problems.
Anthropology : An anthropologist may conduct qualitative research to understand different cultures and societies. This may involve conducting ethnographic studies and observing and interviewing members of different cultural groups to gain insights into their beliefs, practices, and social structures.
Psychology : A psychologist may conduct qualitative research to understand human behavior and mental processes. This may involve conducting in-depth interviews with individuals to explore their thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Public Policy: A government agency or non-profit organization may conduct qualitative research to explore public attitudes and to inform policy decisions. This may involve conducting focus groups and one-on-one interviews with members of the public to gather insights into their perspectives on different policy issues.

Purpose of Qualitative Research

The purpose of qualitative research is to explore and understand the subjective experiences, behaviors, and perspectives of individuals or groups in a particular context. Unlike quantitative research, which focuses on numerical data and statistical analysis, qualitative research aims to provide in-depth, descriptive information that can help researchers develop insights and theories about complex social phenomena.

Qualitative research can serve multiple purposes, including:

Exploring new or emerging phenomena : Qualitative research can be useful for exploring new or emerging phenomena, such as new technologies or social trends. This type of research can help researchers develop a deeper understanding of these phenomena and identify potential areas for further study.
Understanding complex social phenomena : Qualitative research can be useful for exploring complex social phenomena, such as cultural beliefs, social norms, or political processes. This type of research can help researchers develop a more nuanced understanding of these phenomena and identify factors that may influence them.
Generating new theories or hypotheses: Qualitative research can be useful for generating new theories or hypotheses about social phenomena. By gathering rich, detailed data about individuals’ experiences and perspectives, researchers can develop insights that may challenge existing theories or lead to new lines of inquiry.
Providing context for quantitative data: Qualitative research can be useful for providing context for quantitative data. By gathering qualitative data alongside quantitative data, researchers can develop a more complete understanding of complex social phenomena and identify potential explanations for quantitative findings.

When to use Qualitative Research

Here are some situations where qualitative research may be appropriate:

Exploring a new area: If little is known about a particular topic, qualitative research can help to identify key issues, generate hypotheses, and develop new theories.
Understanding complex phenomena: Qualitative research can be used to investigate complex social, cultural, or organizational phenomena that are difficult to measure quantitatively.
Investigating subjective experiences: Qualitative research is particularly useful for investigating the subjective experiences of individuals or groups, such as their attitudes, beliefs, values, or emotions.
Conducting formative research: Qualitative research can be used in the early stages of a research project to develop research questions, identify potential research participants, and refine research methods.
Evaluating interventions or programs: Qualitative research can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of interventions or programs by collecting data on participants’ experiences, attitudes, and behaviors.

Characteristics of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is characterized by several key features, including:

Focus on subjective experience: Qualitative research is concerned with understanding the subjective experiences, beliefs, and perspectives of individuals or groups in a particular context. Researchers aim to explore the meanings that people attach to their experiences and to understand the social and cultural factors that shape these meanings.
Use of open-ended questions: Qualitative research relies on open-ended questions that allow participants to provide detailed, in-depth responses. Researchers seek to elicit rich, descriptive data that can provide insights into participants’ experiences and perspectives.
Sampling-based on purpose and diversity: Qualitative research often involves purposive sampling, in which participants are selected based on specific criteria related to the research question. Researchers may also seek to include participants with diverse experiences and perspectives to capture a range of viewpoints.
Data collection through multiple methods: Qualitative research typically involves the use of multiple data collection methods, such as in-depth interviews, focus groups, and observation. This allows researchers to gather rich, detailed data from multiple sources, which can provide a more complete picture of participants’ experiences and perspectives.
Inductive data analysis: Qualitative research relies on inductive data analysis, in which researchers develop theories and insights based on the data rather than testing pre-existing hypotheses. Researchers use coding and thematic analysis to identify patterns and themes in the data and to develop theories and explanations based on these patterns.
Emphasis on researcher reflexivity: Qualitative research recognizes the importance of the researcher’s role in shaping the research process and outcomes. Researchers are encouraged to reflect on their own biases and assumptions and to be transparent about their role in the research process.

Advantages of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research offers several advantages over other research methods, including:

Depth and detail: Qualitative research allows researchers to gather rich, detailed data that provides a deeper understanding of complex social phenomena. Through in-depth interviews, focus groups, and observation, researchers can gather detailed information about participants’ experiences and perspectives that may be missed by other research methods.
Flexibility : Qualitative research is a flexible approach that allows researchers to adapt their methods to the research question and context. Researchers can adjust their research methods in real-time to gather more information or explore unexpected findings.
Contextual understanding: Qualitative research is well-suited to exploring the social and cultural context in which individuals or groups are situated. Researchers can gather information about cultural norms, social structures, and historical events that may influence participants’ experiences and perspectives.
Participant perspective : Qualitative research prioritizes the perspective of participants, allowing researchers to explore subjective experiences and understand the meanings that participants attach to their experiences.
Theory development: Qualitative research can contribute to the development of new theories and insights about complex social phenomena. By gathering rich, detailed data and using inductive data analysis, researchers can develop new theories and explanations that may challenge existing understandings.
Validity : Qualitative research can offer high validity by using multiple data collection methods, purposive and diverse sampling, and researcher reflexivity. This can help ensure that findings are credible and trustworthy.

Limitations of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research also has some limitations, including:

Subjectivity : Qualitative research relies on the subjective interpretation of researchers, which can introduce bias into the research process. The researcher’s perspective, beliefs, and experiences can influence the way data is collected, analyzed, and interpreted.
Limited generalizability: Qualitative research typically involves small, purposive samples that may not be representative of larger populations. This limits the generalizability of findings to other contexts or populations.
Time-consuming: Qualitative research can be a time-consuming process, requiring significant resources for data collection, analysis, and interpretation.
Resource-intensive: Qualitative research may require more resources than other research methods, including specialized training for researchers, specialized software for data analysis, and transcription services.
Limited reliability: Qualitative research may be less reliable than quantitative research, as it relies on the subjective interpretation of researchers. This can make it difficult to replicate findings or compare results across different studies.
Ethics and confidentiality: Qualitative research involves collecting sensitive information from participants, which raises ethical concerns about confidentiality and informed consent. Researchers must take care to protect the privacy and confidentiality of participants and obtain informed consent.

Also see Research Methods

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Social Media for Knowledge Sharing in Automotive Repair pp 105–139 Cite as

Qualitative Research: Participant Observation

Patric Finkbeiner 2
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This checklist is based on major predictors found in literature.

Almost completely subjective, this approach amounts to a nearly live-in method. It is applied to gain generalizations about living styles (Collins 1991).

He observed the natives of the Trobriand Islands in the South Pacific from 1915 to 1918.

Main article about her research: Coming of Age in Samoa which was foreworded by Franz Boas, the so-called founding father of American anthropology.

Daimler as well as Porsche, part of VW Group, have their headquarters in Stuttgart. BMW and Audi operate major subsidiaries in this region.

Owner–master–mechanic ( German : Geselle similar to: “fellow of a guild”)—trainee (applicant for being a fellow of the guild).

All names used are fictive names and do not have a direct link to the observation.

Chris is a fictive name; names cannot be attributed to any observed participant.

In all workshops observed.

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Finkbeiner, P. (2017). Qualitative Research: Participant Observation. In: Social Media for Knowledge Sharing in Automotive Repair. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-48544-7_5

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v.58; Jan-Dec 2021

Qualitative Observational Research in the Intensive Care Setting: A Personal Reflection on Navigating Ethical and Methodological Issues

Fredrika sundberg.

1 Research and Development Centre, Skaraborg Hospital Skövde, Skovde, Sweden

2 The School of Health Sciences, University of Skövde, Skovde, Sweden

3 Division of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work, School of Health Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester,UK

Berit Lindahl

4 Department of Health Sciences, Lund University, Lund, Sweden

The aim of this theoretical paper is to critically reflect on the ethical and methodological issues that arose during a study that observed nurses’ care-giving in an intensive care unit setting. The authors critically discuss the methodological and ethical issues as well as the practical realities that were encountered when evaluating a complex intervention using unstructured qualitative observations. We describe the process with negotiating access and entering into the clinical field. Moreover, we reflect on experiences related to methodological issues such as the observer role, how to construct field notes, and how to encounter ethical dilemmas and other problems when being an observer in a closed and protected setting like an intensive care unit. We argue that qualitative observations give an insider perspective when studying the conditions for health and well-being. Our experiences can be transferred to other contexts and guide researchers interested in doing qualitative observational studies.

• What Is Known About This Topic?

○ Caring is difficult to express verbally.

○ Observational research is not fully explored.

• What Does This Contribute to the Field?

○ It reveals the practical realities that were encountered when evaluating a complex intervention.

○ It highlights how unstructured qualitative observations are useful in capturing phenomena that are difficult to express verbally

• Implications for Theory and Practice
○ Qualitative observation provides a valuable perspective when studying caring in different settings. However, careful planning is needed to navigate the ethical and methodological issues this presents.

Introduction

This paper discusses some of the methodological and ethical issues of conducting qualitative observational research, 1 as well as the practical realities that were encountered in evaluating a complex intervention. 2 The intervention aimed to change an intensive care unit (ICU) environment in a Swedish hospital according to evidence-based design principles; altering the environment in relation to sound, lightning, furniture, textiles, and nature. The study aimed to examine if and how such a refurbished ICU patient room influenced nursing care, that is, if the nurses’ caring actions became more sensitive and directed to patients’ well-being and recovery. 1 We concur with Mulhall 3 and Author 4 that unstructured non-participation observation from an interpretative approach is fruitful when examining the physical environment and interaction. To gain access to an ICU is complex per se, and today’s outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic increases this complexity. The pandemic has led to suffering for patients and their families and caused tremendous demands on ICU staff and their work environment. This means that the problems and dilemmas connected to data collection through observations in ICU are particularly relevant to discuss and to further develop.

The concept of environment has received limited attention in nursing research, often being taken for granted as a passive frame of reference within which professional caring occurs, 5 , 6 although interest in the environmental impact of delivered care has had a revival lately. 7 – 9 This neglect is especially the case in relation to the intensive care setting. This is a significant omission given the particular environment of the ICU with its domination by high tech equipment and round-the-clock medical regimens. The change to light sedation regimens have also made patients more aware of their environment, 10 , 11 this coupled with disrupted circadian rhythms leads to up to 80% of patients experiencing delirium. 12 – 15 These disturbances often remain after discharge. Concerns about the traditional ICU environment and its influence on patient well-being led to the development of an innovative program of research which aimed to assess the impact of an evidence-based design approach to the ICU environment on patient health and well-being. 2 , 12 , 16 , 17

Refurbishing a Patient Room According to Evidence-Based Design

The concept of evidence-based design (EBD) means to base decision making about the environment on the best available research findings. 18 , 19 One room in a Swedish hospital ICU was transformed using this approach combined with an additional design goal of sustainability and a desire to create a home-like milieu. 20 At the same time, it was important that the design did not compromise safety, function, and followed national guidelines for an ICU patient room. 21 Interior colorings, textiles, and furniture were chosen according to the “green list” and to be in soft pastel colors. Sound absorbent materials were used on the walls, ceiling, and floor. A cyclic light system was installed that was digitally altered to strengthen the usual 24 hours circadian rhythm. Outside a patio was decorated with small garden furniture and greenery. This green area formed part of the patients’ view through the window but could also be accessed by the patient’s visitors. 2 , 18 The evaluation of the new ICU environment was informed by principles of complex intervention research and health geography 22 , 23 and underpinned by a caring science perspective. 24 – 26 This perspective is fundamental to nursing practice in Scandinavian countries and is characterized by a view of professional care as a commitment to prevent suffering and maintain the health, integrity, and life of others. 27 , 28 The research program used both qualitative and quantitative approaches. This included the use of non-participant unstructured observation which is the focus of this paper.

Designing the Qualitative Observation Study

In an earlier study in the research program, nurses described how they felt that they provided nursing care with a more caring attitude in the refurbished ICU room. 16 Thus, a subsequent study was designed to examine this reported change in caring attitude in more depth including observation. 1 The focus for the observations was to capture the meanings of caring and nursing activities performed in the refurbished room and in a traditionally designed room situated next door. All the observations were conducted by one researcher, who was an experienced critical care nurse but who had not worked in the research setting. The research study involved conducting 4 observations in the intervention room and 6 in the control (non-refurbished) room. 1 Observations were completed in the control room before moving onto the intervention room to gain a sense of usual activities and interactions as a baseline. The data gained from the observations were discussed and analyzed by the research group and the results later published. 1

A working shift, usually consisting of a critical care nurse (CCN) and an assistant nurse (AN), was the focus of each observation. The participants consisted of 7 CCNs, 1 CCN-student, and 7 Ans (15 participants in total). The sample varied in terms of gender, age (22–55 years), and ICU work experience (3 weeks–12 years) Across both rooms a total 47.5 hours of observations were documented by careful field-notes ( Box 1 ). The field-notes were written by hand during the observations and transcribed shortly after each observation. Both daytime and evening shifts were observed for between 4 and 6 hours a day. During the observations, the researcher sat quietly in a corner of the room that provided a full view of the actions of the nurses. However, there were times when she moved her position to obtain a better view of nursing activities or if additional space was needed by the staff. The field-notes recorded both descriptive and reflective notes 29 about the setting, the atmosphere in the room, the activities occurring, and the interactions among the various actors.

Examples of Field Notes From the Observations

The non-participant, unstructured observations were carried out within a naturalistic and interpretive paradigm, 3 , 30 meaning that data were gathered as a process where the everyday experience of people was captured in their natural settings. Following the completion of the observations, participants (nurses) were invited to take part in a qualitative research interview. 31 The observational and interview data were analyzed together using a hermeneutic-phenomenological method built on the writings of Paul Ricoeur and developed for nursing research. 32 , 33

The aim of this actual paper is to highlight and critically reflect on the ethical and methodological issues that arose during a study that observed nurses’ care-giving in an ICU setting. Details on the research methods are provided in another publication.

Negotiating Access to the ICU

The refurbishment of the ICU room itself had involved gaining the approval of the hospital managers, chief physician, and head nurse. Subsequently, it had been important to engage the ICU staff in the planned transformation of the room and in the research program itself. Since the start of the research program, researchers and doctoral students had visited the setting, and data collection for several studies had taken place at the ICU. This collaboration between the researchers and the unit had laid the foundation for future alliances. This involved the research team giving seminars about the research (including the use of observational methods) and experts in environmental design (eg, architecture, textile design, Feng Shui) giving presentations about the planned redesign of the room. These seminars were well attended and proved to be important in ensuring that the ICU nurses fully understood the reason for the researcher’s presence, particularly given they were sharing the same space for lengthy periods of time. In addition, the researcher was dependent on their assistance with the study as well as their commitment to working within a transformed ICU environment.

Despite this previous collaboration, each study and period of data collection required access to be negotiated—to the unit, to the staff, and to the data of interest. Once approval from the hospital had been received, the researcher met with the ICU ward manager to negotiate how the observations would be carried out in practice in both the redesigned room and the control room. This involved obtaining information about staff shift patterns and daily routines. A decision was made by the Ward managers, for the researcher to wear the same “scrubs” that were worn by the staff. This was seen as both enabling the researcher to blend in with the environment and comply with the hygiene regulations of the unit. The observer also gained access to the break room for the staff which enabled social contact between the observations and interviews. However, to ensure that it was clear that the researcher was not a staff member, she wore a university name badge. The researcher was given access to the ICU in the form of an entrance card and codes to the staff’s changing room, so that she could come and go as the rest of the nursing staff.

Procedures and Considerations in Relation to Ethics

In addition to approval from the organization, research ethics committee approval was required before the observations could commence. In Sweden, research ethics approval is governed by the guidelines of the Swedish Research Society (The Swedish Codex), the Helsinki Declaration adopted by the World Medical Association (WMA) in 2013, 34 and the All European Academies (ALLEA), that is, the European code of conduct for research integrity. Written and oral information was provided to staff about the study at its outset and then repeated during the unit’s regular staff meetings. This included information about the voluntary nature of participation, confidentiality, and their right to decline participation. However, the very specific focus of observations was not disclosed to participants prior to the observations, to attempt to prevent this knowledge influencing their actions and interactions. The presence of the researcher was also highlighted by the senior nurse during staff changeovers, and any nurses who did not wish to participate in the study were not allocated to the rooms where observations were being carried out. The study followed what Polit and Beck 35 conceptualize as process consent, meaning that informed content from the participating nurses was viewed as a process that was subject to ongoing negotiation.

For example, if any nurses found the observation to be too intrusive, they would be able to choose to work in a patient room that was not allocated to the study. Informed consent from the research participants was collected before conducting the interviews. At that time, the staff received information about the aim of the observations and the study and had the chance once again to decline or give their consent of participation. Research ethics committee approval (Reg.XXX) was received without any requirements for amendments to be made to the research plan. Later in the paper we will discuss the real-life ethical dilemmas that had to be negotiated during the study itself. According to Swedish legislation, patients are autonomous and therefore capable to make their own decisions regards consenting to participate in research. Although critically ill patients are considered vulnerable research participants and therefore require thorough ethical consideration. 35 The researchers were conscious of the vulnerabilities of ICU patients and the need for their rights and dignity to be protected. 36 , 37 Consequently, this fact was problematized in the ethical approval application form. A particular issue related to whether patients and their next of kin also should give informed consent, despite not being the research participants. Under Swedish research ethics regulations as the focus of the observations was on the ICU nurses’ activities, the consent of families or patients was not required. This interpretation may not be consistent with the research ethics regulations of other countries but complied with the regulation governing the study setting, in this case, Sweden. The Scandinavian countries have different ethical legislations and praxis compared to the US and UK concerning this. We strongly argue that it is crucial to be aware of and following the legislation in the country where observations are taking place. However, if observations were conducted when the patient was awake or if visitors were present, the researcher explained the reason for her presence to them and obtained consent. Furthermore, the researcher did not attend any handover reports where personal information about patients was shared. The research ethics application had highlighted that the observations would be carried out by a researcher who was an experienced ICU nurse who was sensitive both to patient vulnerability and family distress and thus aware of the need to withdraw from observation when appropriate. It was emphasized that the observations would not affect the care of patients or family members or the running of the ICU and that they would focus only on nursing activities. The staff had the mandate to stop the observer from entering the patient rooms if the situation was inappropriate for observation.

Navigating Methodological Issues

Do observations reveal a different perspective or “reality”.

An earlier study in the research program revealed that nurses described how working in the redesigned room made them feel more alert and promoted the quality of their caring. 16 We were interested in exploring these findings further using a naturalistic and interpretive approach to understand how the environment influences caring. 30 Unstructured observations are rarely used in nursing research, yet they provide a valuable means of gaining a holistic insight into interactions and illuminating the contextual influence of the physical environment. 4 However, at the same time, it is important to recognize that the reality perceived by the observer is conditional; it is multi-voiced and open to manipulation (whether deliberate or not) by the observed. 38 The analysis of the observational data from our previous study suggested that the nurses’ caring attitudes, that is, sensitivity to individual patient needs were not influenced by the ICU room in which they were working but were connected to the individual nurse themselves, that is, some displayed a more caring approach than others. 1 This conflicted with the interview data from another study 16 in which nurses related their caring to the environment. Mulhall 3 states that a primary reason to use observations for data collection is to investigate if participants’ accounts are consistent with their actions. She argues that an interviewee has more possibilities to govern the content in the conversation, whereas in observation sessions, the researcher is freer to choose what to observe. Data are always open for interpretation, and a possible interpretation of our findings could be related to the role of the observer and the observer’s preunderstanding and theoretical knowledge in the literature concerning the concepts and application of caring science into clinical practice. It could be that the observer might not interpret an action as being caring, but on the other hand the nurses might see it as a caring act. However, if returning to the analyses of data that were worked through using phenomenological-hermeneutics, 33 , 39 it can be argued that a text or scene is always open for several interpretations. The interpreter, however, must be able to move from a subjective to a distanced position and to present arguments for the most probable interpretation, that is, to consider if it is reasonable and likely. 4 To maintain rigor in unstructured non-participating observations, as in all qualitative analyses, means to comprise a careful collection and critical analysis of data and a transparent reporting of findings.

Being an Insider or an Outsider

In this study, the researcher observing the nursing activities was an insider, that is, someone who shared the characteristics and experiences of those being observed, 29 but had not worked in the actual unit. While there are disadvantages to this role in terms of overfamiliarity with the setting blinding a researcher to the actions and interactions occurring within it, in this study being an insider appeared to facilitate access to the ICU setting and provided a degree of theoretical sensitivity that was important during the observations and data analysis. 4 However, to guard against making assumptions or taking for granted what was being observed, the researcher made detailed descriptive field notes and kept a reflective diary ( Box 1 ). In addition, prior experience as an ICU nurse provided the researcher with the knowledge and confidence to change her role from a non-participant to participant observer if the situation and the safety of the patient required her to act.

The ICU nurses observed were aware that the researcher shared their professional identity. Indeed to “fit-in” and reduce her intrusion in the setting, it was decided by the Ward managers, that the researcher would wear the same uniform as the staff. Nevertheless, there are risks to presenting the same outward appearance as the observed. Despite the different name badge, patients, visitors, and other staff members may have mistaken the researcher for an ICU nurse which highlighted the importance of the researcher introducing herself to people entering the ICU room. Since the staff was aware of the researcher’s professional identity, it is possible that it may have impacted on their professional behavior while the observer was present. While it is unknown if the staff changed their behavior due to the presence of the researcher and their knowledge about the study focus, the follow-up interviews with the participating nurses 1 examined their perceptions of her influence on their actions and interactions. These interviews revealed that they forgot about the presence of the observer after a few minutes.

Moving From a Non-participant to a Participant Role

The researcher adopted a non-participant observer role. However, as noted earlier due to her insider role, there were incidents that led her to moving to a participant observer role. Incidents observed were responded to differently depending on the researcher’s assessment of the level of risk to the patient. In one situation, a life-threatening incident was observed by the researcher but not by the ICU nurse, in which a patient attempted to extubate themselves. Here, the researcher stepped in immediately to prevent this action. In another situation, the researcher observed that the ICU nurses had missed taking a vital blood pressure measurement for a patient. After giving the nurses reasonable time to recognize their omission, she raised the error with them directly. Being an insider meant that the researcher had a professional and moral duty to intervene. Although Angrosino 30 notes that all qualitative researchers using observational methods have obligations to prevent harm to their research participants, but in an ICU environment it may require specialized prior knowledge to identify and appropriately manage observed patient safety incidents.

Encountered ethical and methodological issues when conducting qualitative observational research has been discussed and reflected upon ( Table 1 .). Gaining access to a setting involves dedicating a period to building up confidence with managers and staff. The actual ICU had researchers and 3 doctoral students visiting the unit to collect data in the years preceding the observation study. This meant that confidence in the research team and an interest in the research program had been established. At the same time, this extensive intervention research program could have led to considerable research fatigue among the staff. However, the positive relationships developed between staff and researchers coupled with their interest in the programs of research avoided this situation.

Encountered ethical and methodological issues when conducting qualitative observational research.

The fact that the study had received approval from the ethics committee also facilitated access to the setting. However, of most importance was that the managers and staff were motivated to facilitate data collection as there was a strong desire to improve their work environment. Our experiences suggest that it is a prerequisite for observers to have insight and knowledge both about the type of care and the environment being studied when it comes to entering a clinical field like an ICU. Research has described this area as frightening and shocking for a person who is not familiar with intensive care. 1 , 40 We therefore consider that it was important that the observer was an experienced ICU nurse who could build positive relationships with staff and gain their trust, but with an outsider perspective. Since the aim of the study was to illuminate the meanings of caring and nursing activities performed in different designed ICU patient rooms, 1 it was crucial that the researcher had experience of intensive care and caring practices. We argue that researchers should study phenomenon within their own field of expertise. Moreover, it is the aim of the study that determines whether an insider or outsider perspective is suitable for an observational study. Although there is value in having neutral observers who see the “taken for granted”.

The fact that the observer was an experienced ICU nurse meant that she had a preunderstanding of the routines, traditions but not personal relationships of staff which helped them in seeing with an attentive and receptive gaze. 4 , 41 In addition, this meant that actions and interactions were observed and interpreted through a caring science lens which underpinned the study. This approach is founded on the writings made by Katie Eriksson 42 as well as theory of professional growth as a nurse described by Patricia Benner. 43 , 44 The study had a phenomenological-hermeneutical approach, where lived experiences were in focus. 32 This was used as a framework to assess the performed and given care. The insider–outsider perspective in observations and ethnographical studies has been debated. 45 We and other researchers argue that it is not a dichotomous approach 46 rather a movement between these approaches.

When a researcher, in this case, a trained ICU nurse, takes on a non-participant observer role in an ICU setting s/he may witness situations that risk patient safety. This becomes particularly salient in an ICU setting where patients are critically ill, and treatment is connected to fast decisions and technological equipment. This means that the researcher may need to be able to rapidly assess what is witnessed and know when to act. In an editorial, 47 the researchers discuss the phenomenon of “guilty knowledge” which means witnessing situations that might be reported to an authority. Here we argue that although it could be misinterpreted that the observer was a member of the staff, it was also a patient safety issue that the observer could and did interact when needed. Thus, observation is connected not only to seeing but also to having the knowledge and courage to decide when to act. Consequently, it is important for there to be ongoing discussions within research groups about ethical dilemmas that might arise during observation sessions and how to manage these. 4

We found conflicting results between a previous interview study 16 and the observations 1 in relation to the influence of the ICU environment on the caring actions of nurses which confirms the usefulness of unstructured non-participation observation. There is no standardized way to record field notes. 48 The observations in this study were guided by the themes; Time, People, and Context, as described in methodological texts concerning observations and ethnography. 49 , 50 It is important that the researcher takes a rigorous approach in making field notes that involves careful contemporaneous description of what is observed before moving to an interpretation process using both subjective and objective approaches. 4 , 32 , 44 Our field notes focused on the atmosphere and people present in the room, their actions, and interactions. Moreover, notes were made about the technical equipment, sounds, and lighting as these factors influenced the environment as well as the view from the windows into the outside green area. In the study, 1 the observation sessions were followed by an interview with the staff who had been observed. Here, the field notes were used as a tool to enable the sharing of the events in the observation session as well as deepening the conversation between the interviewees and researcher.

Conclusions

In this paper, we have presented our personal reflections about our experiences of conducting unstructured non-participation observations in an area that is often considered as closed to such research due to the vulnerability of critically ill patients. Our recommendations for conducting observation work are grounded in our experiences in hospital high-tech environments, but we also consider them transferable to other contexts.

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the participants for their willingness to share their everyday caring practice.

Author Contribution: The authors made a substantial contribution to the design of the paper, and we have all taken part in drafting and reflecting on the content and consequently take public responsibility for the content.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests: There is no conflict of interest or funding in relation to the work with this manuscript.

Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Fredrika Sundberg https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7400-6574

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Qualitative Research: Observation

Field Guide

What is an observation?

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Chapter 13. Participant Observation

What is Participant Observation?

Observation and Qualitative Traditions

Entry Access and Issues

Reflexivity in Fieldwork

The Data of Observational Work: Fieldnotes

Ethics of Fieldwork

Summary Checklist for Successful Participant Observation

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Qualitative Research: Observational methods in health care settings

Research roles

What can observation tell us that other methods cannot?

Some rules about observation

Box 3 AnalysisStages in the analysis of field notes in a qualitative study of ear, nose, and throat surgeons' disposal decisions for children referred for possible tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy (T&A) 11

Further reading

The Ultimate Guide to Qualitative Research - Part 1: The Basics

Data collection

What is observational research?

Observational research

What is an example of observational research?

Strengths of observational research

Weaknesses of observational research

Naturalistic observation

Participant observation

Controlled observation

Longitudinal study

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Study design

Unstructured data

Researcher bias

Conduct your observational study with ATLAS.ti

Understanding qualitative observation

Analyze qualitative observations

Qualitative vs. quantitative observation

Naturalistic inquiry

Participant observation

Sensitivity to context

Reflexivity

Empathic neutrality

Subjectivity

Inductive reasoning

Direct observation

Case studies

Researcher as participant

Focus groups

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Qualitative Research – Methods, Analysis Types and Guide

Qualitative Research

Qualitative Research Methods

One-to-One Interview

Focus Groups

Ethnographic Studies

Text Analysis

Process of Observation

Record Keeping

Qualitative Research Analysis Methods

Thematic Analysis

Content Analysis

Discourse Analysis

Grounded Theory Analysis

Narrative Analysis