Principles for Effective Observation

More and more firms are shifting their focus in marketing research away from surveys and focus groups toward direct observation of consumers in natural settings. This type of anthropological research has been a mainstay of the great product design firms for many years, and it has now become commonplace for many consumer goods companies as well. Here are a few tips on the do's and don'ts of observation, taken from my most recent book:

Principles for Effective Observation

Dos	Don’ts
Try to wipe away preconceived notions before starting your observations	Begin with a strong expectation of what you expect to see
Collect observations under different circumstances and from varied perspectives	Draw major conclusions from a very small and/or biased sample of observations
Seek informants wisely	Rely on the lone voice of a so-called expert
Take good notes, including quotes from key conversations, and collect important artifacts	Try to commit everything strictly to memory
Engage in active listening	Ask leading questions
Keep systematic track of observations that surprise you or contradict your prior beliefs	Seek and record data primarily to prove a pre-existing hypothesis