Observe and Report!

Image by Carlos Muza

Last week, my class was given the task to observe how the students of our school interact with anything digital. This included anything from phones to laptop to vending machines. When we started combining and separating all our data, we came to realize a few things.

Here are five things that I learned about observation that day.  

1. Data collection is the first and key step in determining trends.

The first and major step in determining emerging trends and patterns, is data collection. We should not withhold out on proper data collection. The process of gathering information allows us to properly determine what we hope to find out. In our case, we want to determine if there are any patterns that may arise from our observations. Data should also be collected properly. This means that the information we collect should be valid and reliable and that all environmental factors should be consistent throughout data collection. For example, if we all plan to gather our information in a specific area (i.e., the cafeteria) then all our data should be collected within that same environment.

2. Observe everything and everyone!

Secondly, there is no such thing as too much information. We can always remove information that doesn’t seem too important but we cannot add in more information if needed so it is always good to have more details than have too little. When we observe, we are to observe everything. No information is useless. Observe from head to toe, from their physical appearance down to their behaviours and emotions.

3. Assumptions are okay.

But how can we observe emotions when we’re just assuming? Our data may be invalid if we assume, correct? That leads us to the third point, that sometimes, it is okay to build our observations on assumptions. It is what we observe after all! If we see a young man struggling with the microwave and his facial expression looks tense, then we can assume that he is feeling frustrated with the machine. Usually, our observational assumptions on human emotions tends to be fairly accurate.

4. Enter observation without prior bias thoughts.

To ensure that our observations are truly from “observing”, we should get rid of any prior thoughts about what we are observing. This prevent bias in the data that may skew and produce unreliable and invalid results. It is important to have a fresh mentality and break our old thought patterns so we can consider new ones with our new perspectives.

5. Break down observations into categories and even sub-categories.

Lastly, determining trends involves breaking down our observations into categories and even sub-categories. Doing so narrows common factors in the observations and helps in identifying trends. Patterns are around us and by having a physical visualization of the breakdowns of the data, it helps with recognizing emerging trends.      

Image by Frans Van Heerden