What are the differences
between observation and interviewing as methods of data collection? Explain
with two specific examples of situations where either observation or
interviewing would be more appropriate. (MAY 19/ DEC 18) (10 Marks)
Ans -
Observation
Observation,
as the name implies refers to situations where participants are observed from a
safe distance and their activities are recorded minutely. It is a time
consuming method of data collection as you may not get the desired conditions
that are required for your research and you may have to wait till participants
are in the situation you want them to be in. Classic examples of observation
are wild life researchers who wait for the animals of birds to be in a natural
habitat and behave in situations that they want to focus upon. As a method of
data collection, observation has limitations but produces accurate results as
participants are unaware of being closely inspected and behave naturally.
Interviewing
Interviewing
is another great technique of data collection and it involves asking questions
to get direct answers. These interviews could be either one to one, in the form
of questionnaires, or the more recent form of asking opinions through internet.
However, there are limitations of interviewing as participants may not come up
with true or honest answers depending upon privacy level of the questions. Though
they try to be honest, there is an element of lie in answers that can distort
results of the project.
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