Dear Leila,

I am replying you because I have worked in professional and academic terms on the impact of observation within the built space of some Italian historic centres.

Actually, observation was one of the many indicators that I used to assess the 'suitability to transformation' of each building.

There are few papers that I published with my former supervisor within the Politecnico di Milano University (Milan, Italy).

In case you are interested, please check this presentation (http://paolillo.professor.polimi.it/files/Ricerca/Ppt%20paper%20Santander2003.pdf) and take a look at some of the paper I uploaded in my ResearchGate profile.

Basically, we used ArcGis extensions to develop DTM (Digital Terrain Model) and DEM (Digital Elevation Model), to use Viewshed extensions. Actually, our most recent publications are based on the use of many tools, like the Viewshed, the VGA, and other approaches.

Please let me know what do you think about the experiences illustrated in those papers (especially the one about the city of Cremona and the one on the city of Como).

In case you find them of your interest, please let me know.

Good luck with your studies and work.

Cheers,

Umberto

Dear Leila,

I am replying you because I have worked in professional and academic terms on the impact of observation within the built space of some Italian historic centres.

Actually, observation was one of the many indicators that I used to assess the 'suitability to transformation' of each building.

There are few papers that I published with my former supervisor within the Politecnico di Milano University (Milan, Italy).

In case you are interested, please check this presentation (http://paolillo.professor.polimi.it/files/Ricerca/Ppt%20paper%20Santander2003.pdf) and take a look at some of the paper I uploaded in my ResearchGate profile.

Basically, we used ArcGis extensions to develop DTM (Digital Terrain Model) and DEM (Digital Elevation Model), to use Viewshed extensions. Actually, our most recent publications are based on the use of many tools, like the Viewshed, the VGA, and other approaches.

Please let me know what do you think about the experiences illustrated in those papers (especially the one about the city of Cremona and the one on the city of Como).

In case you find them of your interest, please let me know.

Good luck with your studies and work.

Cheers,

Umberto

This is a very common research technique in environmental psychology or architectural psychology.  I assume you mean unobtrusive observation ie without in any way interfering with the subjects' behaviour.  This sort of study started the whole field of personal space and distance for which Robert Sommer is so well known.  If the way people move around in space and take possession of it either temporarily or more permanently is you interest then Robert Sommers famous book Personal Space is a good starting point.  You could also look at my book The Language of Space which is fully referenced on my page here and covers the whole field of how we behave in, take possession of, defend, personalise and communicate through spatial behaviour.

In response to your query of how to avoid investigator bias in assessment.  A well used technique and one I have applied many times is to formulate some rules for assessment in much the way you might for examiners in a university.  So you specify the criteria as closely as you can without being over prescriptive of what is required to achieve a certain assessment.  You then ask a number of independent judges to perform the assessments on the material under investigation.  So what to do with the results of this?  I would normally use soemthing like the Kendall Coefficient of Concordance to show the level of agrement between the judges. Its a sort of non parametric correlation coefficient.  Provided there is a reasonable level of agreement you can then use the overall average score from all the judges to arrive at your final assessment.  Provided you declare all this you can even remove a single judge who appeared to be out of step if you can justify this in order to get a high Kendall.  This might be a little like the way judges in ice skating competitions have the highest and lowest scores removed in order to avoid extreme assessments.  All a little controversial but provided you describe al this in your publication it may be OK.  Hope this helps.

ps If you are unfamiliar with the test mentioned then refer to Sidney Siegels wonder book  Non-parametric statistics for the behavioural sciences.

pps  As I think you are doing a PhD do please discuss such fundamental issues with your supervisor, who might take a different view

Dear Leila,

In case you haven't read it yet, I would recommend you, by John Zeisel:

Zeisel, J., 1981. Inquiry by Design. Environment/Behaviour/Neuroscience in Architecture, Interiors, Landscape and Planning. 2ª ed., 2006. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc.

It's a major work, with quite a few case studies to illustrate each chapter.

You might also be interested in:

Thiel, P., 1996. People, Paths, and Purposes - Notations for a Participatory Envirotecture. Seattle: University of Washington Press.

Whyte, W.H., 2001. The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces. New York: Project for Public Spaces.

I hope this might help you.

Take care!

Dear Leila

Here are some references that might be useful for you. There are quite a few research that use observation in the BE.

Bales, R., and Cohen, S. (1979). SYMLOG: A system for the multiple level

observations of groups. New York: Free Press

Crow, D. A. (2008). Stakeholder behaviour and legislative influence: Afield

observation of recreational water rights in Colorado, The Social Science

Journal Nov. (20): 1–13.

Eisenhardt, K.M. (1989). Building theories from field observation research,

Academy of Management Review. 14: 532–550

Jorgensen, D.L. (1989). Participant observation: a methodology for human

studies, Applied Social Research Methods Series. 15, Sage Publications,

Beverly Hills,

Sutterfield, J. S., Friday-Stroud, S. S. and Shivers-Backwell, S. L. (2006). A

field observation of project and stakeholder management Failures; lessons

learned, project management journal, vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 26-35

Yin, R. (1994).Field observation Research: Design and Methods. Thousand

Oaks, Sage Publications.

Yin, R.K. (2003).Field observation Research: Design and Methods, Sage

Publications, Thousands Oaks,

Yin, R.K. (2008).Field observation Research: Design and Methods, Sage

Publications, Thousands Oaks.

bets wishes.

Dear Leila,

Have a look at  William H. Whyte. He refers to an intersting method that matches with your interest.

Book: The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces.

Best wishes.

Dear Dr. Farhani

Have a look at the following article.

A study of outdoor interactional spaces in high-rise housing (Huang, 2006).

Good luck

Not sure I could agree with Napolean here.  There are many studies of our relationship with the environment that have no observation elements at all.  The whole range of work concerning how we perceive and make sense of our environment is often done by eliciting responses from subjects.  Cognitive mapping for example.  Theere has been a very substantial flield in which tools using adjectival scales  to do concept mapping....we could go on !

Hi Leila

You may want to check Gehl and Svarre's work on Public Space.  This book collects a good number of studies in the public space within a timeline from them and from other urban researchers.

http://gehlarchitects.com/shopfront/how-to-study-public-life-2013/

Good luck,

Ana Karinna

For any built environment studies (such IAQ, thermal comfort, envelope performance, etc...) are quantitative study, the observational methods cannot be validated in this context. those are only a qualitative methods to assess the performance of build environment. Only quantitative work can be argued and validated, in research.

Check paper:

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273442686_Well-being_and_sustainable_design_A_case_study_of_building_typology_transition_in_a_rural_settlement_in_India

Conference Paper Well-being and sustainable design: A case study of building ...

I recommend grounded theory. One of my students recently did a study using it. It has the advantage of working well in meta analyses, it's very useful for spotting unexpected mores also.

see: Strauss, AL, & Corbin, JM. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques.

Dear Leila,

I think that the observation method can generate valid evidence in research, but through photographs or videos that registers the observed.

Regards

Hi again Leila !

I am a fan of John Zeisel's books because they are very clear, very focused on observation — and quite useful to use upon new case studies by applying his observation techniques.

So, 2 more titles I would recommend to you:

ZEISEL, J., 1976. Stopping School Property Damage. Washington DC: American Association of School Administrators.

(I have used it with much success for my professional architectural practice, for a new high-school design of mine)

ZEISEL, J. 1975. Charlesview Housing: A diagnostic evaluation. Cambridge: GSD Harvard University.

Good luck with your research,

António

DEar Leila, 

This is my BSc research 

http://www.slideshare.net/nayomikankanamge

It use observation as one of the techniques to study the built environment and also it reveals some methods to interpret the findings of your observations.

Good Luck

I have done several works that you can use such as:

1. Al-Fina: A Study of Inbetween Spaces along streets as an urban design concept in Islamic Cities of the Middle East, 1996, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway

2.1998, Al Fina: Inbetween Spaces as an Urban Design Concept: Making Public and Private Places along streets,  Urban Design International, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford.

Good luck

Observation is one of many excellent methods for investigating the built environment. My team and I have conducted a video-ethnographic study (an observation technique that allows one to revisit the small details involved in users' behaviors and interactions in the environment). Coupled with interviews, we were able to become intimately familiar with actual experiences. The publication that reference how this study was conducted is attached.  The first of 2 results' papers are in press and should be available soon. Best of luck with your research! 

Article Methodological insights from a study using video-ethnography...