Describe what you observed
It could be said that the video represents the participant observation, as the educator is actively involved in building rapport with the participants (“Participant Observation” 75). The primary observation is the fact that children are able to multitask, as they are having a discussion and making a cake at the same time (“Outside – Time for Quiet Play”). Another aspect is the fact that children are rather quite since they are actively occupied in the activity, and each of them contributes to the common goal. As for the supervisor, she has chosen a consistent approach to the communication with children, as she is interested in their hobbies and their favorite songs (“Outside – Time for Quiet Play”).
What behaviors did you feel were important to take note of?
As for the critical behaviors, it should be noted that all of the children are actively involved in playing with the dough, as the educator tries to be in an intense contact with every participant. Moreover, children are rarely screaming to attract attention, as it is distributed equally. The primary goal of this video is to emphasize the interdependence between the attitude of educator and the children. In this instance, it becomes evident that observer has to discuss the topics with the children on the same level to cultivate trusting relationships and control the situation.
How would you include this data in a research report?
Nonetheless, the coding of the observational data is a necessity, as, otherwise, it is not possible the primary findings of the observation (“What to Observe in Participant Observation. Part 2”). The data has to be descriptive and analyzed in the context of the research. In this instance, the interpretive data analysis can be utilized as the most suitable approach, as the interdependence between the educator and children’s attitude can be noticed and explained.
Observational Research Designs
There are different kinds of observations such as participatory and direct. Participatory observation involves active involvement of the researcher in the interaction with the participants since the establishment of the rapport, spending significant time with the participants allows collecting detailed information (“Participant Observation” 78). It is aimed to obtain the information about the social norms, routine actions, unrecognized thoughts, and principles.
Another observational research design is direct observation. The primary goal of this design is the fact it determines the frequencies of the particular behavioral patterns (“Participant Observation” 78). Moreover, the data collection does not require having direct contact with the participants.
Lastly, the observations might be cross-sectional (comparing the results of different groups) or longitudinal (monitoring over a significant time). Moreover, the Census can also be used when the information about each household is required (“What to Observe in Participant Observation. Part 2.”).
Ethnography
As for the ethnography, this approach is actively used to determine cultural differences between the participants and explore cultural singularities. The ethnography has a tendency to describe the events with understanding its original meaning and helps reveal “the symbolic world of the people studied” (“What to Observe in Participant Observation. Part 1.”). Moreover, the primary characteristics of this method are discovering, comparative, using small sample size, and naturalistic. In this instance, the principal methods of the data collection are interviews, literature review, and observation (direct or participatory). Lastly, the primary goal of the ethnography is to reveal and focus on ethnic problems, since they might be overt and covert (“What to Observe in Participant Observation. Part 1.”).
Works Cited
“Outside – Time for Quiet Play. NQS PLP Observing Practice Series.” Youtube. Youtube. 2012. Web.
Participant Observation2015. Web.
“What to Observe in Participant Observation. Part 1 of 2 on Ethnography and Participant Observation. “Youtube. Youtube. 2012. Web.
“What to Observe in Participant Observation. Part 2 of 2 on Ethnography and Participant Observation. “Youtube. Youtube. 2012. Web.