Observation involves using the five senses of sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste to directly observe people, environments, and activities in their natural context. It has advantages over other data collection methods in that it is unobtrusive, allows observation of behaviors and phenomena that people may be unwilling or unable to discuss, and can reveal insights not accessible through other means. Effective observation requires planning around who and what will be observed, developing structured observation guides or employing unstructured approaches, training observers, systematically recording observations, and analyzing the collected data.

1. Using observation to collect
evaluation data
Prepared By
Engr.Muhammad Mujtaba Asad

2. Checking in…
What do you think?
Answer YES or NO to each of the following
1.Observation involves “seeing” and “listening”
2.People may behave differently when they know
they are being observed so it is better not to tell them
3.Structured observations provide more accurate and useful information
4.As long as you see it, it doesn’t matter if you record what you saw
5.You, as someone who “knows” the program and the participants, are
best suited to conduct the observations
6.The same principles of sampling apply to observation as to other
forms of data collection
Check your answers at the end

3. Observation…
Involves all 5 senses:
sight, hearing, smell, touch, and taste

4. Purpose and benefits of observation
as a data collection method
• It is unobtrusive
• You can see things in their natural context
• You can see things that may escape conscious awareness, things
that are not seen by others
• You can discover things no else has ever really paid attention to,
things that are taken for granted
• You can learn about things people may be unwilling to talk about
• It is inconspicuous – least potential for generating observer effects
• It is the least intrusive of all methods
• You can be totally creative – flexibility to yield insight into new
realities or new ways of looking at old realities

5. Observation is useful when…
• You want direct information
• You are trying to understand an ongoing behavior,
process, unfolding situation, or event
• There is physical evidence, products, or outcomes that
can be readily seen
• Written or other data collection methods seem
inappropriate

6. Observations
Advantages
– Most direct measure
of behavior
– Provides direct
information
– Easy to complete,
saves time
– Can be used in
natural or
experimental settings
Disadvantages
– May require training
– Observer’s presence may
create artificial situation
– Potential for bias
– Potential to overlook
meaningful aspects
– Potential for
misinterpretation
– Difficult to analyze

7. Is observation culturally appropriate?
Things to consider:
• Discomfort, threat of being observed
• Issue of being an “outsider”
• Observer effect
• Possibilities for
misinterpretations

8. Observation – Ethical issues
• Unobtrusiveness is its greatest strength; also potential
for abuse in invasion of privacy
• You can venture into places and gather data almost
anywhere so be ethical
• Remember our Human Subjects Protection
guidelines
– Consent form for participating in an observational
study

9. Types of observation
Structured
Unstructured
Looking for
Looking at
Sometimes we have
something specific we
want to observe –
leadership skills; level of
participation; etc.
We use a structured,
preset guide of what to
observe or a checklist.
Sometimes we want to
see what is naturally
occurring or exists
without predetermined
ideas. We use have an
open-ended approach to
observation and record
all that we observe
Observing what does not happen may be as
important as observing what does happen.

10. Practice:
Structured/unstructured observations
Imagine you are sitting in a room where ten youth are
sitting at computers learning about Web 2.0 applications.
1) If you want to assess to what extent students are
interested and learning, what specifically would you look
(listen) for?
2) If you aren’t sure what specifically indicates student
interest or learning and you want to see what is going on
during the demonstration, how would you proceed?

11. Steps in planning for observation
• Determine who/what will be observed.
• Determine aspects that will be observed (characteristics,
attributes, behaviors, etc.).
• Determine where and when observations
will be made.
• Develop the observation guide
• Pilot test the observation guide
• Train the observers and have them practice.
• Conduct the observations
• Analyze and interpret the collected information.
• Write up and use your findings.

12. Who/what can you observe
• People (individuals, groups, communities)
– Characteristics
– Interactions
– Behaviors
– Reactions
• Physical settings
• Environmental features
• Products/physical artifacts
Use sampling strategies as you do for other methods of data collection

13. Example – Observing participation in an
after school program
• Who you will observe:
youth attending the program
• What you will observe:
– Age, gender
– Length of time student stays in the program
– Involvement in activities: which activities
• Level of involvement
– Interactions with other youth; with staff
• When you will observe: all hours the program is open
for one week each month during 2007

14. Recording your observations
It is not good enough to just observe, you need to
record your observations. You might use:
– Observation guide
– Recording sheet
– Checklist
– Field note
– Picture
– Combination of the above

15. Sample Observation Guides
Guide for structured observations
Guide for unstructured observations

16. Structured observation guide used for pre and post program evaluation

17. Who does the observations?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
You – program staff
Participants - Youth
Parents
Teachers
Volunteers
Other stakeholders
Colleagues

18. Training –
preparation/orientation may be necessary
–
–
–
–
To learn what to look for
To learn how to record observations
To practice
To ensure that observations across sites are consistent:
observers use the same methods, rate an observation in
same way

19. How well do you observe?
Take 15 seconds and look at the picture below. Move to the next slide or
turn away from the computer screen and write down everything you
observed. Then, come back to the photo and see what you missed (or
thought was there and isn’t!).

20. Practice
your observation skills
everyday in everyway!
And,
add observation
to your data collection toolbox.

21. Checking back in…Answers
1. Observation involves “seeing” and “listening” YES
2. People may behave differently when they know they are being observed so it is better not to tell
them NO – they often DO behave differently but that is not a reason not to tell them they are
being observed.
3. Structured observations provide more accurate and useful information NO
– unstructured observation also can be very useful
4. As long as you see it, it doesn’t matter if you record what you saw NO – you must record your
observations to have evidence of it existing
5. You, as someone who “knows” the program and the participants, are best suited to conduct the
observations NO – various people might be well suited, though training may be necessary
6. The same principles of sampling apply to observation as to other forms of data collection YES