Introduction to Observation

Pertemuan ke-2
Psikodiagnostik 2
 Observational Assessment
• The systematic approach!
• Where – What + who – How – When

• How to make detailed, specific observation?

– Specific – use numbers/ units of comparison
– Detailed – give as much information as possible in
describing so a person will be able to picture the object/
phenomena without even seeing it – shape, colors,
location, etc.
– Factual – avoid opinions. No matter who’s observing,
everyone should agree on it.
 Exercise
• Find one person to observe
• Observe the person for only 10 minutes
• Describe as specific, detailed, and factual
as can be
• Use Where – What + who – How – When
as your guidance
 Observational Assessment (Cont.)
• Most of psychologist are interested in “real-life” phenomena
– But, what they have is mostly artificial! Clinics and
laboratories
• Psychologists act mostly as “operator”, producing data whose
conditions they have dominated, instead of “transducers”
– Simply translating and coding what happens naturally
• What is natural for human being ? Are not immediately
obvious
• Contributions of technology !
 Definitions
• ‘observation’ derives from Latin: to watch,
to attend to

• A systematic description of events,

behaviors and artifacts in the social setting
under study (Marshall & Rossman, 1989:
79)

• Observing: a special skill that requires

addressing issues such as the potential
deception of the people being interviewed,
impression management, and the potential
marginality of the researcher in a strange
setting (Hammersley & Atkinson, 1995)
 Fundamental Fallacies on
Observation

1. The researchers were not

trained as social science
observers
2. The researchers were not
prepared to make observations
at that particular moment.
 Training for Observation
• Learning to pay attention, see what there
is to see and hear what there to hear
• Practice in writing descriptively
• Acquiring discipline in recording field notes.
• Knowing how to separate detail from trivia
to achieve the former without being
overwhelmed by the latter
• Using rigorous method to validate and
triangulate observations
• Reporting the strengths and limitations of
one’s own perspective, which requires both
self knowledge and self disclosure.
 What are being observed? (1)
• Verbal behavior
– Bales (1950) developed techniques for
analyzing group interactions 
positive/ negative contribution  “task”/
“socio-emotional” specialist

– Albert & Kessler (1978) examined

greeting rituals on telephones  four-
part rituals, including a summary of the
call, a justification for terminating the
call, some positive comment and some
indication that the relationship would
continue.
 What are being observed? (2)
• Non verbal behavior
– Argyle (1978) looked at non verbal cues, such
as style of speaking, voice tone, loudness,
interruptions, speed, hesitations, address codes,
paralinguistic, silences, clothing, hair style,
make up, facial expressions, use of eyes, body
contact, touch, body movement, gestures and
proximity

– Vrugt (1990) provides example of analyzing the

non-verbal behavior of Dutch Queen during her
annual televised presentation of government
policies of the year, if it was possible to detect
when the Queen’s opinion is discrepant to those
of her government from speech disturbances,
object manipulation and looking up.
 What are being observed? (3)
• Non verbal behavior
– Argyle (1987) suggests that postural
moldings (i.e. the copying of body
posture) often indicated that the dyad
concerned were getting on well with
each other, while eye-gaze (and the
breaking of eye contact) was important
in synchronizing conversations, signaling
to the other when you wished him or her
to take over, for example.
 What are being observed? (4)
• Total behavior
– Minuchin (1974) divide family dynamics
in terms of up/down, near/far and in/out
relationships. He concentrated on
looking at characteristic patterns and
strategies adopted by participants to
cope with others in the family.

– Carry (1978) looked at the social rules

used by pedestrians where two
pedestrians are meant to look at each
other until they are about 2.5 metres
apart, and then look away when
actually passing.
 What are being observed? (5)
• ‘unobtrusive measure’  evidence
left by people
– Webb et al. (1981) examined of carpet
wear and ‘nose-prints’ on glass
protecting screens as indicators of the
relative popularity of the art at
exhibitions. They also cite discarded
rubbish studies, where contents of
people rubbish bins are looked at in
terms of such variables as their
consumption of alcohol.
 What are being observed? (6)
• Procedures: content or happenings,
another to sample extensively, but for only
a limited time
– Event sampling  critical incident technique
– Time sampling
 Who conducts the observation?
• Solo & Team; Participatory &
Collaborative approach
– Degrees of collaboration vary along a
continuum. At the end is the solo field
worker or a team of professionals: The
researchers completely control the
inquiry.
– Collaborations with the people in the
setting being studied is called “co-
researchers”; they help design the
inquiry, collect data and are involved in
analysis.
 When does the observation take
place?
• Refers not only to the period and timing of
the observation but also the time that
observation are recorded.
– Immediate recording: avoids much of the
problem of memory distortion.

– Retrospective recording: occurs when the

assessor jots down observations after the
conclusion of an interview or testing session, or
uses a check sheet or rating scale to record
impressions. Such recording suffers from
problems of condensation and forgetting, but
may be the only feasible way to obtain some
observations.
 Where to observe?
• Natural setting/ Field Observation
– Barker et al (1978) : the ecological psychology studies
which provide extensive accounts if behavior in community
settings

• Contrived/ Simulated setting

– work samples: duplicating the conditions one is interested
in, perhaps using the actual site in which the person will
ultimately be performing, e.g. In-basket test The subject
receives basic information about a company and told to play
the role of an administrator whose job is to handle a series
of memos, letters, forms, and other request like those
typically coming to a manager’s in-basket. Assessors may
use visual impressions and analyze the quantity and quality
of the subject’s production and decisions
– situational test: a contrived situation in which the subject is
given a task to accomplish, e.g. police recruits.
 Where to observe? (Cont.)
• Standardized conditions in the clinic or
laboratory
– Ainsworth et al (1978) assesses a child’s
reactions to being separated briefly from his
parent under standardized conditions (The
Strange Situation Test)
 How to observe? (1)
• Participant, Onlooker or Both
– A participant observer shares as intimately
as possible in the life and activities of the
setting under study in order to develop an
insider’s view of what is happening. Not only
sees what is happening but feels what it is
like to be part of the setting.
– Onlooker / non-participant observer :
complete separation from the setting as a
spectator. The observer observes the
program in distance, with no direct contact
with the observed study.
– Both: The extent of participation can change
over time. The study may begin with
onlooker and gradually become a participant
as field work progress; vice versa
 How to observe? (2)
• Overt or covert
– Overt observation is done to the
belief that there should be full
disclosure of the purpose of any
research project.
– Covert observation is done to the
belief that people may behave
quite differently when they know
they are being observed.
 How to observe? (3)
• Technology
– Audio
– Visual
– Other digital portable transmitters
– Transcript: checking, writing, or dictating
• Ethical considerations
– consents
 Variations in Observation
1. Structure of the observation
highly structured, detailed observation ------ diffuse unstructured
description
2. Focus in observation
narrow, specific aspect of observation ------ broad focus
3. Knowledge of those being observed about the process
overt (full disclosure) ----- covert (no disclosure)
4. Explanations given to those being observed
full explanation ----- no explanations
5. The time scale of what being observed
single observations ----- extended observations over time
6. The method used
simple note taking ----- the use of devices
7. Feedback given to those observed
full sharing of observations and interpretations ----- no further contact
at all with the participants.
 Advantages
• It can provide concrete evidence of the
phenomenon under investigation
• Enables you to assess the behavior within its
context
• It is good for studying behavior that people
may not be aware of (e.g. non verbal
behavior) or behavior that is inaccessible
using self report methods (e.g. because of
denial, distortion or simply forgetting).
• It can tell us not only what is going on, but
also who is involved, when and where things
happen
• It can illuminate process and it can examine
causality, suggesting why things happen as
they do in particular settings.
 Advantages
• The chronology of events can be taken into
account and continuities over time can be
looked out
• Situations can be examined that can not be
replicated in a laboratory, such as weddings,
political meetings, prisons, behaviors in bars,
football crowds and religious behavior
• Can be part of multiple-method approach
• Allows permanent records to be made, which
can be independently analyzed and re-
analyzed in detail, ensuring some reliability of
interpretation
 Disadvantages
• It can only be used to answer certain research
questions
• Often have problems with reactivity of
measurement: people may behave differently if
they know they are being observed.
• It tends to make points from the outsider rather
than an insider perspective (can be very
subjective).
• Can be very time-consuming and labor-
intensive
• People’s behavior may be inconsistent
 Bias
• Halo Effect – a spread of positive or
negative evaluations to observations other
than those directly related to the reputation
• Hawthorne Effect – the subject positive
result happens because the effect of
observation
• Attention span or short term memory/
working memory limitation
– Miller, G. (1956). The Magical Number Seven, Plus or Minus Two: Some Limits on Our Capacity for
Processing Information, Psychological Review, 63, 81–97.
 Observation and Interview
• By its nature, observation directly concerns the present,
while interviews reflect the past (the past as seen from
the present) or surmise the future (as seen from the
present)

• Observation and interview supplement each other.

• Observation gives chance to learn things that people
would be unwilling to talk about in an interview.

• Interviewees are always reporting perceptions –

selective perceptions. The impressions and feelings of
the observer become part of the data to be used in
attempting to understand a setting and the people who
inhabit it. The observer takes in information and forms
impressions that go beyond what can be fully recorded in
even most detailed interview.

• Interview without observation is like a body without soul

 Observation and Interview
• Interview is directed primarily toward
obtaining verbal information from the client
• Behavioral observation: specific strategies
and techniques of measuring the relevant
areas of behavior discussed during the
interview
• Add with observation or not? After initial
interview.
• Used when interview is not possible, e.g.
developmentally disabled, resistant client,
very young children
 Observation in Counseling
• In working with clients, if you miss those nuances – if
you misread what they may be trying to communicate, if
you misjudge their character, if you don’t notice when
their emotions, gestures, or tone of voice don’t fit what
they are saying, if you don’t catch the fleeting sadness
or anger that lingers on their face for only a few
milliseconds as they mention someone or something
you might otherwise not know what was important – you
will lose your client. Or worse still, you don’t (And your
client continues with you despite your insensitivity)
Drew Watson
Observation & Psychological Testing
• In using test instrument, esp. projective
test, we need to cautiously employ not
only our subjective experience, but also
“subjective experiences” of the tests.
• Psychological testing could be one way to
avoid ‘impressionism’ in interpreting
personality
• It makes diagnosing work to be focused
and time-efficient.
Observation & Psychological Testing
• The difficulty is to decide the unit of observation that
could represent the “construct” we are aim for.

Henry and Spiro (1953): four requirements on

psychological testing to added with natural observation:
1. Measurement of the personality “as a whole” rather than
by limited techniques.
2. Test material which is not “culture-bound”
3. Tests permitting sampling of large numbers of subjects,
and brief tests capable of rapid and easy administration
4. The analysis of which may be done by other person – to
check by the analysts and by persons whose judgment
was not biased by previous knowledge of the people.
 Tugas Individual: Review
journal
• Merangkum isi jurnal
• Menjelaskan tujuan observasi
• Menentukan tahapan observasi
• Mengidentifikasi kendala-kendala dalam
pelaksanaan observasi
• Mengeksplorasi teknik-teknik pengambilan
data lain yang dapat diterapkan untuk
mencapai tujuan.
 REFERENCES
• Banister, et al. (2005). Qualitative Methods in
Psychology A Research Guide. New York:
McGraw-Hill Education.
• Barker, et. Al. (1994). Research Methods in
Clinical and Counseling Psychology. England:
John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
• Patton, M.Q. (2002). Qualitative Research &
Evaluation Methods 3rd Ed. California: Sage
Publication.
• Sundberg, N.D. (1977). Assessment of Persons.
USA: Prentice Hall
• Mensh, I. N. & Henry, J.(1953). Direct observation
and psychological testing in anthropological
fieldwork. American Anthropologist, 55 (4), 461-
480