general thoughts and observations on life

Provocative: personality disorder or trait Poor eye contact: depression, psychotic disorder There are no guidelines to direct further testing in the setting of an abnormal mental status examination therefore, testing is based on clinical judgment.īody habitus, eye contact, interpersonal style, style of dressĪppearance: attention to detail, attire, distinguishing features (e.g., scars, tattoos), grooming, hygieneĭisheveled: depression, schizophrenia/psychotic disorder, substance useīehavior: candid, congenial, cooperative, defensive, engaging, guarded, hostile, irritable, open, relaxed, resistant, shy, withdrawnĮye contact: fleeting, good, none, sporadic The mental status examination is useful in helping differentiate between a variety of systemic conditions, as well as neurologic and psychiatric disorders ranging from delirium and dementia to bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. Each must be interpreted in the context of physician observation. These tools have varying sensitivity and specificity for neurologic and psychiatric disorders, but none are diagnostic for any mental status disorder. Physician judgment is necessary in selecting the most appropriate tool for an individual patient. Proprietary and open-source clinical examination tools are available, such as the Mini-Mental State Examination and the Mini-Cog. Multiple cognitive functions may be tested, including attention, executive functioning, gnosia, language, memory, orientation, praxis, prosody, thought content, thought processes, and visuospatial proficiency. Observational research falls under the paradigm of interpretivism.Ĭovert participant observation involves lying to the participant - it is a breach of informed consent.The mental status examination includes general observations made during the clinical encounter, as well as specific testing based on the needs of the patient and physician. Where the researcher's presence is known, it's relatively simple for them to take notes, because they don't need to hide the fact that they're conducting research. It's common for researchers to pop into the bathroom to make a quick note of something important, or to summarise their daily observations every evening. Taking notes is more difficult when they're acting covertly. The informant will be aware of the researcher's presence and can answer questions that are not addressed by observation alone. If they're conducting covert research, they might enlist an informant. Where simply observing the crowd isn't enough, the researcher might need to ask some questions. This means that the researcher has to avoid influencing the behaviour of anyone in the group. While conducting participant observation, the researcher should focus on capturing an accurate and authentic account of the community's way of life. This technique is commonly used in ethnography.

In participant observation, the researcher integrates themselves into a group to study their way of life, their culture, and how they structure their community. In overt research, the research participants are all aware of the researcher's presence and their role as an observer. In covert research, the research participants don't know who the researcher is, or that there's even a researcher there at all.

It's important to note that observational methods can be covert or overt. They're each suited to different research purposes, and have different strengths and limitations. There are several types of observational methods used across many social science disciplines. 1 - Observations capture behaviour instead of words Types of observation in sociology This is the opposite of the secondary research method, where researchers choose to study data that has already been collected before their study begins.įig. Primary research involves personally collecting the data or information being studied. Observation is a primary research method.

This is different from techniques such as interviews or questionnaires because observations are a study of what subjects do instead of what they say. In sociological research, 'observation' refers to a method in which researchers study the ongoing behaviour of their participants (or subjects). While this definition is useful in general terms, it's of little use when contemplating the use of observation as a sociological research method.

Theoretical Approaches to Welfare ProvidersĪccording to Merriam-Webster, the word 'observation' can be defined as ' an act of recognising and noting a fact or occurrence often involving measurement with instruments', or ' a record or description so obtained'.

Distribution of Wealth, Poverty, and Income in the UK.

Representation of Social Class In The Media.

Social Construction of Health and Illness.

Postmodernist Perspective on The Family.

Functionalist Perspectives on the Family.

General thoughts and observations on life