Contextual survey is a method of studying how users interact with equipment and their environment through real-time observations. It can reveal important information and is useful in ethnographic studies, workplace efficiency, and usability studies. Researchers use discreet methods to collect data and analyze the results to improve products and efficiency.
A contextual survey is a study of how users interact with equipment and their environment. The researcher gathers this information in context with real-time observations, rather than isolated interviews and reviews. This can reveal important information that isn’t immediately apparent with other types of data collection methods. Researchers are left with substantial raw data to review and analyze after contextual investigation, and they can use this information in a variety of ways.
There are a number of settings where this method of information gathering can be useful. These may include ethnographic studies to learn more about human populations along with analyzes of workplace efficiency and usability studies of experimental techniques and equipment. In all cases, the researcher begins by getting permission to work in a certain environment and setting a schedule that will limit interruptions. You need to see people at work naturally, but sometimes it can be better than others; researchers don’t want to disrupt large projects, for example.
The interviewer makes an introduction, emphasizing that the goal of contextual inquiry is to see how people work under typical conditions. While the presence of an interviewer can be distracting, people are asked to act as normal as possible. Contextual inquiry can begin with a few quick background questions and then the researcher observes. Some researchers may ask for instructions, having their subjects explain a task. They can also interrupt, by prior arrangement, to ask clarifying questions.
This study method is highly observational. Researchers do not want to influence their subjects and therefore use discreet methods to collect their data. These can include logging with hidden devices, rather than taking notes overtly, as well as having other observers in the area work discreetly. At the end of the contextual investigation, the researcher thanks the subject for taking the time to participate and begins to review the data and prepare an analysis of the results.
Researchers may learn that people use equipment and techniques in unexpected ways they might not disclose in conventional interviews and surveys. This may be important for a company to know, as it may develop products with these uses in mind, or it may improve efficiency by providing its employees with better-suited tools to complete tasks. A contextual survey can also show how different populations solve problems in settings such as the workplace and can provide important insights into behaviors related to new technology and equipment.
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