CHAPTER 12 COLLECTING DATA THROUGH OBSERVATION Barbara B. Kawulich Observation is used in the social sciences as a method for collecting data about people, processes, and cultures. Observation, particularly participant observation, has been the hallmark of much of the research conducted in anthropological and sociological studies and is a typical methodological approach of ethnography. It is also a tool used regularly to collect data by teacher researchers in their classrooms, by social workers in community settings, and by psychologists recording human behaviour. In this chapter, the objectives are to:  provide a brief historical view of observations as a data collection method,  illustrate how observations may be used to collect data,  discuss the advantages, disadvantages, and limitations of observation methods,  show how to develop observation guides,  discuss how to record observation data in field notes, and  provide exercises to assist students in practicing their observation skills. Observation has been documented as a tool for collecting data for more than one hundred years. Anthropologists of the late 19 th century have illustrated in their works the importance of observation as a social science method. Early studies, such as Frank Cushing’s work with the Zuni Pueblo people, Beatrice Potter Webb’s study of poor neighbourhoods in London, and Margaret Mead’s research with Samoan women, are examples of how observation has been used to collect data to study various cultures in the field of anthropology. These studies set the standard for how one conducts observations today to answer research questions in many disciplines. Whether you, as a researcher, are interested in studying an educational setting, a Observation is the systematic description of the events, behaviors, and artifacts of a social setting (Marshall & Rossman, 1989, p. 79).