Unobtrusive Analysis

Indirect Data Collection

To avoid the possibility of the presence of a researcher interfering with the human behavior of the research participants, a number of indirect data collection methods may be employed. For example, if a researcher would like to measure the effectiveness of communication approaches for wait staff within a restaurant, the servers could each be coached in a particular approach. Then following the experiment, the amount tipped for the servers could be calculated and compared.

Another commonly used indirect collection method is using undetectable recording devices and tools to record human interactions, which are later analyzed by the researcher. This approach may be controversial, as it is common practice for all research participants to be willing and aware of participation in a research experiment. In addition, legal and ethical considerations must be assessed prior to recording any human interaction (this is expanded upon in a later section).

The nature of indirect data collection is to collect data without the participants’ knowledge. Although the goal of this is to obtain data that are free of bias introduced due to participant knowledge, participants have a right to privacy. Some information may be considered public and therefore not subject to privacy laws or regulations. However, a researcher is often still required to obtain a signed consent form prior to analyzing or using any data collected during the experiment.

Analyzing Existing Documents

A common approach to unobtrusive research methods is through content analysis. The content used for such analysis comes from existing documents, such as newspaper articles or organizational documents. The content can be analyzed quantitatively or qualitatively through thematic analysis, indexing, or quantitative description analysis, and other methods.

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