Holistic Observation: Expanding the Lens of Behavior Analysis

Observe a public or semi-public environment for 30 minutes (e.g., a park, café, library).
• Document observations thoroughly as they are happening, focusing on the physical environment,
human interactions, behavioral patterns, and personal reflections. This document will be submitted
with your final report (if notes are hand-written, they must be submitted as typed). This document has
no grammatical, spelling, or structural expectations, but any distracting typos should be corrected, and
the document should be easy to read (An example is provided at the end of these instructions).
• Write a post-observation report (3–5 pages) following the specified format.
o Introduction. Provide justification regarding your observational setting and the time of day. It is
ok to identify that the time selection was a convenience sample – but if it was strategically
selected for a rich, behavioral environment, please indicate.
o Descriptive Summary. The descriptive summary is a more narrative format from your raw
observations, providing an overall coherent and organized pattern of documentation. In this
portion of the paper, include as many descriptions related to as many senses as possible.
Students may also describe a casual description of behavioral interactions that can later be
analyzed using behavioral concepts.
o Analysis. In this portion of the paper, students will reflect on the descriptive summary and some
of the examples they provided. These examples should then be related to behavior analytic
concepts discussed in the course (or in previous classes). Remember, this is to generate careful
considerations of what was observed as it relates to behavioral phenomena. We cannot
accurately identify maintaining consequences observed during this period; rather, we make
hypotheses and generate areas to study more systematically.
o Conclusion. In this section, take one example from the analysis and suggest something that
could be studied. For example, a student may notice people picking up merchandise in one area

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more than another and suggest collecting rate of purchased items based on product placement.
Finally, indicate your overall experience with this project.
• Ethical Considerations. Respect the privacy and dignity of individuals who are observed. Avoid any
interaction or documentation that could make someone uncomfortable or violate ethical boundaries. If
visiting a business, respect their policies regarding loitering. In the post-observation report, ensure that
no identifying or personal information is divulged.