Given Hapunda

110 provides researchers an opportunity to take note of people’s behaviour, activities and their physical surroundings in their natural setting. Once a decision has been made on the use of observation as a method of data collection, it is critical to also decide which kind of observation will be used. There are two main methods of observations: overt (people knowing that they are being observed) or covert (people being unaware that they are being observed and the researcher’s identity is concealed) In the former, one may need to get informed consent and this may affect the way people behave, ultimately influencing the data collected. The latter is appropriate in situations where it is highly likely that people’s behaviour will change once they’re aware that they are being observed thereby, altering data collected significantly. Direct observation can be used when you need to collect direct reliable information. For instance, visiting farms to check if the farmers are putting into practice what the area agricultural extension officer taught them or to observe if a new community water facility under a community project is being used. The method can be used to confirm who uses the facility, when do they use it and how often they use it. Observation can prove to be better than asking people’s views through a semi-structured interview or focus group discussion. Nevertheless, observation can also be conducted during a focus group discussion where participants’ reactions, responses or disposition tell of underlying disagreement or agreement between participants in the discussion. Direct observation can also be used ‘when trying to understand an on-going process or situation (CDC, 2008b). When evaluating a corruption-related project, you can monitor or watch a situation as it unfolds and this helps counter subjectivity in certain participant responses where what they say is not matched with what they do (Mwale, 2016). Regardless of the method chosen, the evaluator should ensure that ethics are upheld and no harm is caused to the people being observed during the process. Observation may seem to be a straightforward method of data collection, but it is imperative to bear in mind what exactly will be observed once you set out to go in the field. This can be captured through videos and photographs. For instance, would you be interested in environmental features, project documents, people’s interactions? You may also decide on a sample as it would be very overwhelming to observe all the people or components of a project. You may also require an observation checklist that will help identify exactly what you want to observe. Direct observation can also be used as an ‘on-the-spot’ check for both quantitative and qualitative research and serve as triangulation for the responses or explanations given by participants. In evaluating a community project through gender audit, certain variables can directly be observed during meetings and a checklist can include things like: how many females are now chairing community meetings? What leadership skills are they exhibiting? How is their interaction? How free are they to speak out? In order to ensure that there