Abstract
Abstract The potential usefulness of direct systematic observation as a measurement strategy is addressed in the present paper. Although systematic observation offers numerous advantages over alternative methods, several persistent and unique limitations are also associated with the method. Those addressed include observer interference, problems associated with category systems, related problems of reliability and validity, and observer bias. Systematic observation has also been restricted by self-imposed limitations on the types of behavior observed and recorded, the types of research designs employed, and the types of observational technology applied. A review of both types of limitations suggests that removal of self-imposed limitations would do much to overcome other limitations and thus strengthen the status of systematic observation as a measurement strategy in sociology.
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