Observation
Observing the behavior of people, groups, and organizations, as well as their outcomes, is not only an essential component of human existence but also a fundamental technique of scientific inquiry in the behavioral sciences. Observation may be employed in both laboratory and naturalistic situations. Observation requires attentive looking and listening.
In natural settings, observation techniques are employed to acquire information regarding social skills. Observation techniques may be highly organized, with defined behaviors being observed for frequency of occurrence or occurrence during specific time periods or intervals.
Observation techniques sometimes emphasize contextual elements that may promote or reduce a child’s social skills, such as classmates’ and adults’ responses to starting a conversation. Analogue evaluation, which includes role-playing social settings and watching performances, may also be used to conduct observations.
Comte said that positivism’s foundation was using the senses to observe social occurrences. However, Comte’s treatment of observation is dominated by arguments for the “subordination of observation to the statical and dynamical principles of events” rather than a comment on the processes for conducting impartial observations.
Comte was opposed to solitary, atheoretical perceptions of the social world. Instead, he argued that observing empirical facts would be unhelpful in advancing knowledge if a theory does not back them. He attempted to build sociology to study social realities, freeing the mind from the stifling realms of metaphysical speculation and morals.
According to Comte, with theory, researchers would be confident of what to seek in the social world, and social researchers would be sure of the importance of what they discovered. Observations should be guided by a specific theory and, once made, should be linked to a specific law. No social fact can be scientifically meaningful unless it relates to another social fact” by a preliminary theory. Observers would not know what they were looking at if observations were not linked to preliminary theories.