Pages: 112 Price: $29.95 ISBN: 978-0-8264-9629-4
Let me begin by acknowledging Gillham's purpose in writing this book as noble. He recognized the problems inherent in most research methods texts and attempted to address them by offering a book that addresses a research method while simultaneously focusing on its practical utility. Even that recognition in itself is commendable. The book, as evident by its title, focuses on a discussion of observation techniques in research, and Gillham does well to acknowledge and discuss a representative range of these techniques.
However, from there, I take issue with much of the book (and, more so, what is not in the book). For instance, until late in the book when it is mentioned only in regard to visual ethnography (e.g., photography), there is no mention of the fact that individuals may behave differently when they know that they are being observed, thus affecting the validity of the observation. This stands as true in both "participant" and "nonparticipant" methods, as Gillham calls them. Other problems with observational methods in general are likewise overlooked, such as the fact that mental processes are unable to be observed and must thus either be inferred, which is inherently problematic, or omitted from consideration, which is likely to lead to deficient results.
Additionally, the book would very much have benefited from specification of the purpose of the observations being addressed. Observations are used for a seemingly endless array of purposes, all of which have very different implications, and it seems as though Gillham attempts to address them all. This, of course, is problematic, given the inherently different nature of various observational purposes. For example, the entire process of observation—including, but certainly not limited to, the context, the participants, and the observers themselves—vary widely depending on whether one is observing young children in a classroom setting, executives or other employees in an organization, disabled individuals, drug addicts, or, as Gillham himself is currently investigating, "the practice of street begging in Glasgow" (p. 10).
Nevertheless, although for this reason I argue that no topic or purpose is fully explored as comprehensively as it needs to be in order for the reader to gain even a practical knowledge of the methodology, Gillham does briefly recognize some important issues inherent in (nearly) all observational purposes. These include issues of validation, the importance of both frequency and duration of behavioral incidents and also of the observation itself, the distinctions between covert/overt and open/closed observations, and the need for "an initial period of 'open' observation" (p. 23) (prior to constructing a structured observation). There is also brief mention of the issue of rater cognitive overload, and although such recognition is good, in observational practices this is an issue of such key import that it warrants a much greater examination, as do rater issues in general (e.g., Saal, Downey, & Lahey, 1980), which are so often misused that they have arguably become one of the prime problems in observational research.
Gillham structured the book in a rational and effective manner, addressing the observation continuum from structured to unstructured—and rightfully noting that, except in extreme circumstances, the "polarized distinction is false" (p. 5). For a substantial part of the book, however, Gillham maintains that observation can be used as an experimental method, a grossly misleading statement, given that contriving a situation in which individuals then freely interact is a far cry from actively manipulating and having complete control over a variable, as is necessary for a true experiment. At points, it seems as though Gillham recognizes this problem, but then he goes on to use the term "experiment" unqualified. Another type of observation that Gillham addresses is self-observation, and, notably, he recognizes the importance of this technique. Again, I value Gillham's recognition of such issues, but feel as though self-rater issues were underdeveloped in the book. In particular, the author offers no empirical evidence in support of such self-reports. Such additions (e.g., Goffin & Gellatly, 2001; Thornton, 1980) would clearly be of interest and importance to any researcher looking to support the appropriateness of his or her own research.
Nonetheless, I appreciate Gillham's recognition of the potential ethical implications of observational research. He presents various and interesting ethical dilemmas, although some of these dilemmas are also moral, and he would have done well to have noted the important distinction between ethical and moral behaviors. In this section Gillham also rightfully addresses the issue of informed consent, and also makes short mention of a 1984 UK Data Protection Act. However, Gillham amazingly manages to write the entire ethics chapter without including a discussion of institutional ethics committees or review boards, which are necessarily concerned with much more than just the handling of personal information, which is what the Data Protection Act governs. This is a noteworthy omission, since it is these institutional ethics committees and review boards which are certainly at the bureaucratic heart of all ethically-based, institutionally-funded research.
Overall, Gillham does well to recognize the importance of contextual factors and the interaction between a person and his or her environment. He also rightfully describes some limitations of observational research methods, and recommends that complementary research methods be used in conjunction with them for a more comprehensive research design and methodology. However, the complementary research methods that he suggests are, for the most part, much of the same, in that they are all reliant on biodata or are some other type of personal inventory.
In sum, this book is undeniably well-intentioned. It meets part of its goal of giving an overview of observational research methods, but is far too broad of an overview to be of much practical use to an observational researcher in any discipline, as it fails to address various issues of large-scale import in such methods. Although I appreciate what Gillham was trying to do—that is, to write a practical, useable guide, versus textbooks which are rarely user-friendly—I think he may have taken the textbook problem to its opposite extreme. The book largely reads like a nonfiction work of interest to social researchers, and is relatively interesting in its storytelling, but, similarly to textbooks, arguably has limited utility, as its discussions of observational methodology are too broad and too superficial to be of much practical use to a serious researcher.
References
Goffin, R.D., & Gellatly, I.R. (2001). A multi-rater assessment of organizational commitment: Are self-report measures biased? Journal of Organizational Behavior, 22, 437-451.
Saal, F.E., Downey, R.G., & Lahey, M.A. (1980). Rating the ratings: Assessing the psychometric quality of rating data. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 413-428.
Thornton, G.C. (1980). Psychometric properties of self-appraisals of job performance. Personnel Psychology, 33, 363-371.
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