Observation
is a significant method in qualitative research. During this practice, I found
that there are a few things that the observer should notice. The first thing is
that appropriate setting and people should be selected, so that the observers
can integrate into the environment and conceal themselves no matter whether they
participate in the observation or completely act as a spectator. For example,
in my first observation in which I observed my classmate, I communicated with her
as what I would normally do in ordinary time except that I kept taking notes, while
in my second observation I just sat next to the observed person without talking
to her. In both observations I tries to behave naturally and avoid to be obstructive
and noticed by them in order to ensure that the results are valid and reliable.
Another thing I think is very important is that the observers should maintain
objective and not influenced by external environment or people they observe. When
I was observing a person on a bus (second observation), I was quite neutral because
I was observing a person I do not know. And also, another reason might be that
I did not participate in the observation, in other words, interacting with the
observed person. However, when observing my classmate whom I am quite familiar
with, I cannot be as objective and neutral as the second observation since I
sometimes tried to guess the purposes of her movements. And I cannot rule out
the possibility that my observation notes were influenced by our familiarity or
my participation. But I think it is very hard to avoid subjective judgment when
observing someone you know well.
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