How to do and prepare an observation. (United kingdom writer please)
Observe a social setting for half an hour in your placement, as a voluntary worker in a mental health unit as though you were a stranger to the setting. Just try and take in, in as much detail as possible, what happens over the course of the time. Do not let your prior knowledge of the situation affect your observation. Do not start worrying about what you will remember. Try not to write any notes at all as you are observing. If you can, pick a time on placement where it would be possible for you to watch rather than be fully participating in what is going on (obviously this is not always possible, as people will ask you to do things, but you could arrange in advance for people to know that you are trying to do an exercise for college at this point, and would just for this time, appreciate the opportunity to just observe). It doesn’t really matter if people know you are observing (but obviously you don’t have to make a big thing about it). As soon as you possibly can afterwards, write up the observation as fully as possible. It is pretty difficult to recall this kind of observation if you leave it later than the same day. A good starting point is to brainstorm a list of the six or seven key things that happened.
As a general guideline, a careful observation would run to about 1500-2000 words – but people vary in the detail they can recall so don’t worry if yours is a little longer or shorter. When it is your turn to present, you will need a copy for every member of the observation group so photocopy in advance.
After writing your observation
Use the questions below to structure a concluding paragraph briefly analysis your observation – your ‘reflexive log’ – about 200 – 300 words.
Having written up your observation, note your thoughts about what you have seen. Think about the following:
What feelings did you have, doing the observation, and what can you learn from them?
What were the key interactions you observed?
What did these tell you about the rules and norms, formal and informal, that govern the behaviour you observed? How did you pick up on these rules and norms? How were people encouraged to follow these?
What were people trying to do, or achieve, in the setting? What did the staff want to achieve? Why were other people there? What did they want or get, in the time period, and how?