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Individual Data Collection Analysis Paper

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Individual Data Collection Analysis
Observation studies are those studies where individuals are observed or certain outcomes are measured (Science, 2017). In addition, there are no attempts to affect the outcome of the study. Furthermore, establishing cause and effect are difficult in observation studies. However, among variables, associations and predictabilities can be investigated (Science, 2017). This document will overview an observation study of gift buying by males for Mother’s Day.
Designing an Observation Study
The design of an observation study is accomplished in various ways depending on the objective of the study, the type of data collected and available resources for the study (Science, 2017). There are many types of observation …show more content…

Mother’s Day is the next big holiday after Christmas and Valentines Days when it comes to giving cards (Enten, 2012). There are 1.6 billion Christmas cards given annually, 151 million Valentine’s Day card, 141 million Mother’s Day cards and 93 million Father’s Day cards. Mother’s Day cards outpace Father’s Day cards by more than 30 million (Enten, 2012). While Mother’s Day earns the number three spot for the most card giving day, Mother’s Day is the second most popular day for giving gifts. A Mother’s Day Observation Study was executed to observe what type of gifts males were purchasing for Mother’s Day in three different Department Stores in Fayetteville Georgia. Like most holidays most people wait until the last minute to purchase gifts and Mother’s Day is no exception. The observation took place the day before Mother’s Day.
Data Collection. It is imperative for the data to be accurate and reliable in the data collection process of an observation study (Bartlett, 2013). The researcher decides how to classify and record the data usually involving a method of sampling (McLeod, 2015. There are a variety of sampling methods for collecting data like event sampling, time sampling and instantaneous (target time) sampling. When the observer decides in advance specified time periods is an example of time …show more content…

There are advantages and disadvantages to observation studies. An advantage of observation studies is because it is in a natural setting it has more accuracy reflecting real Life behavior versus a controlled behavior. Oftentimes, observation studies generate new ideas during the observation. The disadvantage of observation studies is the method can be time consuming to gather the information since the subject are not being influenced in any way. Also, observational studies are difficult for another researcher to duplicate. The advantages and disadvantages were all true for the Mother’s Day observational study. The data collected is accurate, however, it was time consuming to collect the data at all three locations for thirty subjects at each

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