Semi-structured Observation Method

If observation is a primary technique of real-world social research one can be forgiven for thinking that structured observation, with its ‘count’ emphasis and fragmented character, is not the best way of doing it. Sometimes that level of specificity is necessary and useful and it is to be hoped that we have done justice to this approach in the preceding chapter.

As a representation of the reality of what people do, structured observation is as accurate as a questionnaire is of what people think. You know exactly what you want to find out and the form of the data is precisely specified. The limitations are roughly the same as for questionnaires: not much scope for discovery and the underlying reasons lag somewhere behind.

However, being relatively unstructured in approach does not mean you don’t know what you are looking for. In the semi-structured variety of observation you go in with quite specific questions but they are ‘open’ so that you cannot predict what you are going to find. It is particularly suited to the kind of research which seeks to identify practical pro­blems people experience; and then what can be done about them.

An example of how this approach works is the study of the difficulties older people experience in maintaining an independent living style. You don’t need to be a demographic expert (or a pension fund actuary) to know that we are part of an ageing population, and that old age is accompanied by a range of disabilities, many of them rela­tively minor. Helping people to manage their disability has a long tradition; the profession of occupational therapy has a distinguished role in this respect. But the problem has become much broader and, in a sense, mainstream.

A major consequence of the ageing process is when peo­ple find they cannot cope, or only cope with difficulty, in their normal environment. At a mobility level this is easy to appreciate: stair-lifts, adapted bathrooms and lavatories, wheelchair access, although not cheap, can help older people and their carers with problems that are almost self­evident.

But an accumulation of less conspicuous disabilities can make independent living more difficult and, in total, become as much a barrier as the more high-profile pro­blems. We can go further than that: people often cope well with major disabilities – the conspicuous problems of living. It seems to call forth their emotional resources and a helpful response from others. What wears people down are the multiple, minor defeats of everyday. On their own they may not amount to much: in total they can lead to a non-coping depressive state. At this point we need to take a theoretical side-step.

1. Ecological psychology

Ecology is a term dinned into us by the media: it’s about being ‘green’ – sensitive to environmental issues. But that is only one application of the term.

Ecological psychology is about the interaction of people and their environment in terms of its effect on their psy­chological make-up: at the detailed level of the behaviour and mental experience of individuals. It emphasizes that those psychological dimensions are only meaningfully understood in the context in which they occur, and that the environment facilitates or constrains people’s behavioural or mental state. It is from this standpoint that we can approach the notion of disability. This is not just something about the individual: a disability occurs in a given situation. It is an interactive (person <-> environment) problem which can be approached from either end or, indeed, from both.

People don’t just have to adapt to their environment: their environment can also be adapted to them – at a level of functional detail. A simple example is the problem of lifting and carrying experienced by many people with moderate disabilities. They can be taught more effective, less effortful techniques; as well as being provided with aids that make the tasks easier such as the ‘helping hand’ – rather like the tool used by litter collectors – that makes it easier to pick things up or pull them towards you, or the dycem,, a non-slip mat to keep things steady – jars and tins, for example. These are relatively ‘minor’ problems with simple solutions: they have to be multiplied many times and viewed as part of a persis­tent daily struggle for many people. Helping them to cope practically is to help them emotionally and a practical focus has to be reckoned in terms of these benefits as well.

2. Observing the problems of living

You can learn a lot about helping people maintain their independence by talking to them. But this approach is lim­ited for two reasons:

• they may accept their problems as being normal and ‘only what you can expect’
• they may not even realize they have difficulties in living for which they could get help, as often people adapt when they don’t need to.

Inclusive design

An ergonomically-minded designer brings a particular mind-set to issues such as these. Designers are trained to analyse the functional problems posed by the myriad man­made objects that form part of our domestic existence. The purpose of design is not just to produce something that looks good but something that is also reliable and easy to use. An important principle is that design which makes life easier for people with disabilities can mean products that are easier to use for everyone. The recent Focus range of cars from Ford is an example of this. Designs that only the fully able­bodied can use are exclusive – hence the reverse term.

That trend in design exists as a corollary of observational methods that direct the designer’s attention. Not that this is just for such specialists: there is a straightforward common- sense dimension to identifying difficulties that points the way to possible solutions.

Take, for example, the case of a man in his seventies who has suffered a stroke that has resulted in a degree of paralysis to the left side of the body. He lives on his own but is still mobile and speech is only slightly impaired. The major problem is the limited use of his left hand – in most people the sub-dominant hand. This is not so severe a han­dicap as it might have been because he was normally right­handed, so it could have been worse. But the problems are numerous, nonetheless, and by no means obvious.

It is instructive to spend an hour or so as if your sub­dominant hand were not functional. You can’t exactly replicate the difficulties this person might have. But you soon come to see that even a relatively minor disability leads to many problems – some more marked than others. Take something as simple as writing a letter or making a shopping list: you write with your dominant hand but you need the other one to stop the paper from sliding around. This is the kind of thing you don’t normally need to think about but the examples are multiple – not just obviously intricate ones like threading a needle but larger movements like holding a cupboard door open with one hand to stop it swinging closed so that you can take something out with the other; and so on.

The context focus

The strategy for observation is straightforward.

An initial period of ‘open’ observation is required: getting a sense of the person in his or her context, making pre­liminary notes of particular tasks that look problematic. You ask questions as you go but watching is the primary method. Most people can tell you what causes their difficulty but they cannot necessarily analyse it: at least at the level of devising a solution.

It is only by spending time ‘on site’ and through the routine of a person’s day that you can arrive at a ‘disability map’ highlighting those features which require attention. Occupational therapists in particular are well aware of the problems associated with particular disabilities so that, in many cases, the solutions are readily available. But some are specific to an individual and to a particular context and not so straightforward to resolve.

So, in the case of our hypothetical stroke patient, we may find he is unable to use a conventional cooker because he cannot stoop down and do the two-handed job of taking something out of the oven. A waist-level or microwave oven on a flat surface is one solution. If he likes to heat a tin of soup for his lunch he may have difficulty in using the wall- mounted can-opener – normally holding the tin in the left hand and operating the opener with the right – as the two actions need to be simultaneous. But he can’t achieve the necessary left-hand grip on the can. Again this is a case where there are ready-made design solutions – openers with single-handed or even no-hands operation. But there are many other problems not so well-focused – as you will dis­cover from trying out a one-handed style of operation yourself.

Source: Gillham Bill (2008), Observation Techniques: Structured to Unstructured, Continuum; Illustrated edition.