Structured observation in practice

For the moment the terms structured, detached and non­participant are used almost interchangeably: that is not quite correct (see page 19) but sufficiently so to equate their meaning. All introductory classifications simplify reality.

Structured observation (specifying exact behaviours and recording their frequency over short, usually intermittent, periods of time) is something that figures regularly in text­books; less often in the real world of research. It has had a vogue in educational research and survivals appear occa­sionally in Master’s dissertations, as I have reason to know. One can understand the appeal of the technique: it renders tangible an approach to complex, fast-moving situations like school classrooms or playgrounds. The fall from favour has much to do with its ‘thin’ mechanistic quality and, it has to be said, the obsessional complexity of some of the proce­dures advocated. See, for example, Flanders’ Interaction Ana­lysis Categories (FLAC) devised by the American educationist of that name (Flanders, 1970) where in classroom observa­tion during a minute, and every three seconds, one of 20 categories of teacher and pupil behaviour is checked. One can only admire the rigour of such a scheme but its use is less than enthralling.

However, the basic principle of identifying people and (precisely) what they do is capable of a more practicable but still valid use. Let us take an example.

Structured observation in practice

I am currently exploring the practice of street begging in Glasgow. This can be approached in several ways: getting anywhere near a full picture is not easy and this is spelt out in Chapter 6 Work in Progress.

Begging is commonplace in the city. You may be approached in the street but the focus of my investigation is those who site themselves in a carefully chosen position, usually with a plastic cup for donations. For want of a better term I call these ‘stationary’ beggars and they are most often encountered in and around the pedestrianized sections of three main shopping streets. To begin with I observed them in an unstructured fashion and for varying periods of time (15-30 minutes) – sufficient for me to see how I might carry out a more structured observation. All the ‘stationary’ beg­gars (those who just sit and wait as against those who walk around accosting people in the street) were male; while most of the donations appeared to come from women usually, by my estimate, in the younger age range (under 45).a

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