Los animales: sus funciones y adaptaciones al medio 1. Comprender los conceptos de nutrición

The observation method can have a particular role in research since it ‘provides an opportunity to get beyond people’s opinions and self-interpretations of their attitudes and behaviours towards an evaluation of their actions in practice’ (Gray, 2004: 238). Emphasising the importance of the observation method in case studies, Cohen and Manion (1989: 124-5) note that ‘the case study researcher typically observes the characteristics of an individual unit - a child, a clique, a class, a school or a community.’ In this research (based on a case study approach), the subjects of observation were people involved in a peace education project.

Among two main types of observation: participant and non-participant observation, this research used participant observation, in which the observer is ‘a regular participant in the activities being observed, and his or her dual role is generally not known to the other participants’ (Bailey, 1978: 215). Participant observation generally takes qualitative, unstructured approaches (Robson, 1993: 194), and the observer attempts to remember what occurs during the observation and then records these general impressions after the observation (Bailey, 1978: 219-20).

In this qualitative study, the researcher participated in the project and interacted with participants, while the participants were told that the researcher was interested in learning about the overall project, not individuals. In general, a participant observer is not only a passive observer but may have various roles, and participant observation can provide distinctive opportunities, such as the opportunity for greater access to the project and ‘the ability to perceive reality from the viewpoint of someone “inside” the case study rather than external to it’ (Yin, 2003: 93-4). This aspect of participant observation was reflected here, since the researcher joined in all the activities, except when occasionally assisting the leading project worker, or when some group work required adults only to observe. The observation was intended to explore the complexity and richness of the project, with the aim of gaining insights into the project from the perspectives of people involved. Although there were certain focuses of the observation, the overall structure was kept relatively open in order to capture the whole picture of the project, as well as different elements of learning and people’s actions.

While observation can be used for different purposes in a study by taking various forms, it is commonly used in an exploratory phase, often in an unstructured form, to investigate what is going on in a situation and test hypotheses (Robson, 1993: 192). Observation can also be used as a supportive or supplementary method of data collection to complement, corroborate or validate data obtained by other methods, while sometimes being used as a main method for a descriptive purpose in certain studies (Robson, 1993: 192). In particular, participant observation is suitable to study research questions involving ‘how,’ while answers to the questions concerning ‘what’ and ‘why’ can be identified in advance (ibid: 199). Participant observation is also useful in a small event or process involving small groups (ibid: 205).

Reflecting these purposes, one of the purposes of participant observation in this research was to investigate how one small-scale project is actually practised in one case study school, while cross-examining this with similar information gained through interviews. Since interviews investigate ‘how people perceive what happens,’ but ‘not what actually happens,’

observation may be ‘more reliable than what people say’ (Nisbet and Watt, 1980: 17 in Bell, 1999: 157). Thus, observation can be used to ‘discover whether people do what they say they do, or behave in the way they claim to behave’ (Bell, 1999: 157). In contrast to the interviews conducted here to learn about the principles of the project, participant observation was useful to study how the principles were applied. Another focus of the observation was to explore pupils’ learning process, their reactions in activities, and possible changes in their behaviour.

As stated above, this research was conducted within the framework of symbolic interactionism, while participant observation is largely based on the perspective of symbolic interactionism: that ‘the social world involves subjective meanings and experiences constructed by participants in social situations’ (Robson, 1993: 194). Thus, participant observation often emphasises the meanings that people attach to their actions, while observing and listening to people in their natural setting with an attempt to discover social meanings and interpretations of their activities (Gray, 2004: 241). The observer not only shares experiences of people being studied, but also enters their social and ‘symbolic’ world through learning their social customs, habits, and verbal and non-verbal communication (Robson, 1993: 194).

In particular, the participant observer pays attention to people’s interactions with the social environment, to explore how such interactions change their ideas and behaviour, and their own awareness of these changes (Gray, 2004: 241-2). Considering these aspects of participant observation, this research especially investigated the interactions and relationships of people involved in the project in terms of behaviour and verbal and non-verbal communication, as well as changes in these elements from their own perspectives.

As for advantages of observation, it is useful to collect data on non-verbal behaviour, as a researcher can observe ongoing behaviour as it occurs (Bailey, 1978: 215). Another advantage is that behaviour takes place in its natural environment, so that it is less reactive than other methods (ibid: 216). Moreover, since the observation usually takes place over a longer period than the survey or experiment, it can provide the opportunity of longitudinal analysis (ibid:

216-7). With the longitudinal character of observation, ‘changes and connections between events can be observed’ (Bryman, 2004: 341). These advantages of observation provided this research with opportunities to collect data on non-verbal behaviour of people involved in the project, to observe their actions and behaviour occurring in a natural environment, and to examine changes in their actions and behaviour over an extended period of time.

In terms of disadvantage of participant observation, one problem can be the potential biases generated (Yin, 2003: 94), for example: the ability of the researcher to work as an external observer can be limited, while taking positions or advocacy roles in the event. Moreover, the participant observer tends to ‘follow a commonly known phenomenon and become a supporter of the group or organization being studied’ (Yin, 2003: 94-6). This is because it is not easy to play the dual role of observer and participator (Robson, 1993: 197) and to sustain a balance between ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ status (Gray, 2004: 242). One practical problem is that the participant role may require too much attention compared to the observer role, so that the participant observer may not have enough time to observe and take notes, or ‘to raise questions about events from different perspectives’ (Yin, 2003: 96). While the difficulty of being an observer and participant was also experienced by the researcher, the opportunity of being a participant of the project provided insights into the overall project.

To reduce these observational biases, Robson (1993: 202-4) makes some suggestions: in order to avoid selective attention, ‘make a conscious effort to distribute your attention widely and evenly’; in order to avoid selective encoding and ‘the “rush to judgement” where something is categorized on the basis of initial and very partial information,’ ‘try to start with an open mind’; in order to avoid selective memory with less accuracy and completeness due to delayed construction of an account after the event, ‘write up field notes into a narrative account promptly’. From the researcher’s experience, one of the difficulties was to remember what had happened in the project and take notes soon after, since the researcher did not take notes during lessons as pupils may have felt nervous about it. However, it gradually became

easier while the observation took place over one semester. During the observation, an effort was made to pay wide and even attention to the project and the people involved.

Another problem in participant observation can be observer effects which occur when the observed know that observation is carried out by the observer who is a participant in the situation, and then the observation becomes possibly reactive (Robson, 1993: 208). Although it is impossible to avoid these effects completely, two main strategies to minimise observer effects are suggested by Robson (1993: 208-9): minimal interaction with the group, and habituation of the group to the observer’s presence by repeating the presence in the setting, in order that people do not notice after a while. In this research, it is considered that observer effects were kept to a minimum, since the researcher participated in the project over an extended period of time and took the same role as other members of the groups.

5.4.6 Reliability, Validity and Generalisability