What is the purpose of a checklist for observation?

A: Planning thinking through who, where, when, how and what. Have you considered:

The type of observation study you will do do your goals and context lend themselves to an observation study that is candid or covert; participant/nonparticipant; structured/unstructured and of what duration?

Population and sample/ respondent/ participants who you plan to speak about [population] and gather data from [sample]

Access to the group/ situation/ activities you wish to observe

How you will present yourself

How you plan to control your biases

How you might develop the skills/resources needed to carry out your observation

Strategies for ensuring credibility

The tools you w ill use, i.e.] an observation schedule or if unstructured, any relevant themes to explore

Details what timeframe will you be working towards? If you will observe on one occasion, multiple occasions, or will your study involve prolonged engagement?

How you will record your data

Ethics/ethics approval

Contingencies i.e.] having a back-up plan ready to go your original plan does not pan out

B: Implementing. Have you:

Eased into the observation situation

Prepared yourself to accept a range of sensory input use all your senses, and possibly your intuition, to gather data

Invested significant time in your observations

Looked for saturation try to ensure your observations no longer yield new knowledge before ending the process

C: Recording. Have you:

Recorded your observation as soon as possible. If using schedules, they should be filled in while observations occur. If you are more immersed in your research context, you may want to record your observations when removed from the situation either on data sheets or in a journal

D: Reviewing. Have you:

Reviewed the process and noted any difficulties encountered

Reviewed your observation records

Confirmed checked with an insider, ask another observer to compare notes, or triangulate your observational data with other data types

E: Refining. Have you:

Made modifications based on your own review of the process; any confirmation strategies you have attempted; and the quality of the data generated

Kept reviewing and refining observation takes practice; keep refining until you are comfortable with the process and the data collected

Considered major issues if there are major issues, you will need to openly discuss with your supervisor and consider modifications

F: Managing and analysing. Have you:

Organized/collated your data

Analysed your data. Most data collected in observation can be quantitative[through the use of checklists] or can be much more qualitative [through the use of journaling]