You Can't Judge a Book by It's Cover
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
bAt first, I was weary of how Zeisel’s “Tools for Environment-Behavior Research” could prove useful to my research of the medical system in Amsterdam. While I initially felt that some of Zeisel’s points were simply re-iterating the daily observations that many of us make numerous times per hour, I now see that his environmental tools could serve as a guide for one part of my research.
bYou must take all observations with a grain of salt. While an observation can act as the basis for an hypothesis, you must take many other things into account when proving or disproving your hypothesis. While observers can omit details that may be important to the event or setting and may insert too many personal feelings and biases into their observation, it is personal background of those being observed that is a silent participant in the scene. Perhaps there are cultural, rather than economic, reasons that a doctor does not order a diagnostic test for a patient, or perhaps a doctor is simply rushing through patients so as to get home to a sick child of his own. Thus, while I now feel that observations will be a powerful part of my developing my research, I must delve deeper than these distant interactions. As they say, you can’t judge a book by its cover. What you see on the outside, or through one’s actions, may be very different than the story that is within that book or person. However, through identification of significant patterns, or “standing patterns of behavior,” perhaps my observations will be validated with such repetitive actions.
bI have to question, though, how fruitful my unobtrusive observations will be. Is it feasible for me to perform observations in a doctor’s office or hospital if I am forced to take a distant vantage point, sitting back and observing in hallways and waiting rooms? Will I be able to witness any pertinent actions? Or are all those actions occurring behind closed doors? On the other hand, though, this vantage point could prove the most useful. If patients were to recognize me as an outsider, rather than just another patient in the waiting room, they may alter their actions, tainting my observations. Thus, while I am very hopeful that these observational techniques will prove to be advantageous, I am now aware of the underlying issues that I must take into account along with my observations. I will take my observations with a grain of salt.
bHow can I relate behavioral observations that I collect to my broader topic of the economic effect of health care shifts??
bYou must take all observations with a grain of salt. While an observation can act as the basis for an hypothesis, you must take many other things into account when proving or disproving your hypothesis. While observers can omit details that may be important to the event or setting and may insert too many personal feelings and biases into their observation, it is personal background of those being observed that is a silent participant in the scene. Perhaps there are cultural, rather than economic, reasons that a doctor does not order a diagnostic test for a patient, or perhaps a doctor is simply rushing through patients so as to get home to a sick child of his own. Thus, while I now feel that observations will be a powerful part of my developing my research, I must delve deeper than these distant interactions. As they say, you can’t judge a book by its cover. What you see on the outside, or through one’s actions, may be very different than the story that is within that book or person. However, through identification of significant patterns, or “standing patterns of behavior,” perhaps my observations will be validated with such repetitive actions.
bI have to question, though, how fruitful my unobtrusive observations will be. Is it feasible for me to perform observations in a doctor’s office or hospital if I am forced to take a distant vantage point, sitting back and observing in hallways and waiting rooms? Will I be able to witness any pertinent actions? Or are all those actions occurring behind closed doors? On the other hand, though, this vantage point could prove the most useful. If patients were to recognize me as an outsider, rather than just another patient in the waiting room, they may alter their actions, tainting my observations. Thus, while I am very hopeful that these observational techniques will prove to be advantageous, I am now aware of the underlying issues that I must take into account along with my observations. I will take my observations with a grain of salt.
bHow can I relate behavioral observations that I collect to my broader topic of the economic effect of health care shifts??
posted by Erika at 12:50 PM
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