Research tips: Unobtrusive research
You can discover a lot about human behaviour by discreet observation, says research specialist Tarja Moles
Unobtrusive research refers to data collection methods where researchers do not have direct contact with the people they are studying. In other words, these methods are not obtrusive and therefore they do not affect the research subjects’ behaviour.
It may seem strange that you might study individuals or groups of people without interacting with them in any way, but people actually leave behind evidence of their behaviour and thoughts all the time: just think about the letters to the editor published in local newspapers, social media updates that are visible for everyone online or people’s spending habits recorded by market researchers. These are all traces that can be treated as potential sources of data.
Unobtrusive methods are ideal when you want to know what people actually do, not what they say they do – which can be two completely different things. Such methods are also great for historical research as you can’t contact people directly, but can only go by traces that remain available.