Structured Observation

Structured observation (also referred to as analog observation) is a specific case of observational methods, in which the researcher arranges the situation or context to elicit particular types of interaction or behavior. Observational methods—including structured observation—have advantages over other methods, such as surveys or interviews, by providing more objective measures of behavior via trained observers, enabling direct assessments of infants and young children for whom other methods (e.g., self-reports) are not feasible, and capturing behavior as it unfolds in the real time. Additionally, structured observation holds specific advantages. Compared with naturalistic observations in which individuals are observed in their everyday lives with no intervention by the researcher, structured observations provide a powerful and efficient tool to elicit and observe specific behaviors of interest and are ...