unobtrusive measures


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unobtrusive measures

any methods of collecting data without the knowledge of the subject and without affecting the data. Examples are very varied, e.g. studies of garbage, wear on carpets, recording how much coffee is consumed in meetings. What these unobtrusive methods have in common is that they avoid the problem of'subject reaction’ to the study. Hence they are less likely to distort the observations than standard ways of collecting data such as the completion of a questionnaire or an attitude test. In the latter cases the subjects are bound to be aware that they are taking part in research and this can produce artificial results. Unobtrusive measures are often used within a QUALITATIVE RESEARCH design and can be especially useful in evaluation research to reduce any distorting reaction to the evaluation on the part of the people being evaluated.
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References in periodicals archive ?
To assure the evidence-based strategy used by the Club remained effective at addressing gaps in health information in the API community, the Club used unobtrusive measures to monitor its impact.
Unobtrusive measures first were described by Webb, Campbell, Schwartz, and Sechrest (1966, 2000), and their work remains the classic in this field.
Strategy for sustaining cancer education services for underserved communities
Such unobtrusive measures may be much more meaningful than memory tests for studying MCI behaviors and perhaps responses to potential therapies.
Amnestic MCI doubles 5-year risk of death
This research textbook for sociology students covers the fundamentals of survey research, participant observation, life histories and unobtrusive measures while highlighting the focus on "capturing reality" that is unique to this discipline.
The research act; a theoretical introduction to sociological methods. (reprint, 1970)
These are the leading performance indicators, the unobtrusive measures of performance, collateral expressions of performance.
Mirror, mirror on the wall ... facing corporate reality
After that, you could skip around, focusing on chapters related to the type of research you are interested in: experimental research design, surveys, case studies, evaluations, developing questionnaires, interviewing, observing, gathering unobtrusive measures (that is, using archival data as source material), and so on.
Doing Research in the Real World
Just as there are few unobtrusive measures in the social sciences, there are no unobtrusive measures of performance in public management.
If you only knew how well we are performing, you'd be highly satisfied with the quality of our service
First, you might look to what are called "unobtrusive measures" for evidence that can be revealing about both goals and expectations.
Accountability: What's Worth Measuring?
As etiquette books were never written for sociologists or social researchers, they are necessarily 'unobtrusive measures'.
The integration of social classes
In this issue, Tat and colleagues (2017) conducted a study about cancer education services in a community-based health promotion program using unobtrusive measures. As explained, unobtrusive measures are based on observing rather than gathering information directly from participants.
Unobtrusive measures
They share their personal challenges in this regard in introducing 17 chapters charting such methodological paths as narrative inquiry, grounded theory, unobtrusive measures, and focus groups.
Qualitative journeys; student and mentor experiences with research
After introducing the theories and methods of criminal justice research, describing qualitative and quantitative studies, and giving students a preview of the specialized terms and processes used throughout the text, he describes ethical considerations, research design, data-gathering strategies, sampling and survey research, participant observation, unobtrusive measures, secondary analysis, and use of official statistics.
Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology, 7th ed

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