“Weighing” Two Qualitative Methods: Self-report Interviews and Direct Observations of Participant Food Choices

Two primary forms of qualitative data collection in the health and social sciences include self-report interviews and direct observations. This study compared these two methods in the context of weight management for people who had varying degrees of success with weight loss (n = 20). We asked general habits of eating as well as barriers to weight loss and maintaining a healthy diet. Video-recorded observations (20 minutes) followed audio-recorded interviews (45 minutes). Data were organized into four primary sections: (1) confirmatory data, where the interviews and observations held similar information; (2) discrepancies between what was reported in the interview and what was observed in the home; (3) new information that was unique to the observation and was not mentioned during the interview; and (4) clarification of data collected in the interview and observation. In general, the observations contained more confirmatory data for participants who had been successful at weight control than those who had not. The majority of observational data were emergent, which led to the discovery of new data of which we were unaware prior to the observations.

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Work Title “Weighing” Two Qualitative Methods: Self-report Interviews and Direct Observations of Participant Food Choices
Access
Open Access
Creators
  1. Heather Stuckey
  2. Jennifer Kraschnewski
  3. Michelle Miller-Day
  4. Kimberly Palm
  5. Caroline Larosa
  6. Christopher Sciamanna
Keyword
  1. Qualitative research
  2. Observations
  3. Weight loss
  4. Weight management
  5. Obesity
License In Copyright (Rights Reserved)
Work Type Article
Publisher
  1. Field Methods
Publication Date April 8, 2014
Publisher Identifier (DOI)
  1. https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X14526543
Deposited July 25, 2022

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Version 1
published

  • Created
  • Added StuckeyWeighingtwoqualitativemethods.pdf
  • Added Creator Heather Stuckey
  • Added Creator Jennifer Kraschnewski
  • Added Creator Michelle Miller-Day
  • Added Creator Kimberly Palm
  • Added Creator Caroline Larosa
  • Added Creator Christopher Sciamanna
  • Published
  • Updated Publisher Identifier (DOI) Show Changes
    Publisher Identifier (DOI)
    • DOI: 10.1177/1525822X14526543
    • https://doi.org/10.1177/1525822X14526543
  • Updated Work Title, Keyword, Description, and 1 more Show Changes
    Work Title
    • “Weighing” Two Qualitative Methods
    • “Weighing” Two Qualitative Methods: Self-report Interviews and Direct Observations of Participant Food Choices
    Keyword
    • Qualitative research, Observations, Weight loss, Weight management, Obesity
    Description
    • Abstract
    • Two primary forms of qualitative data collection in the health and social
    • sciences include self-report interviews and direct observations. This study
    • compared these two methods in the context of weight management for
    • people who had varying degrees of success with weight loss (n = 20).
    • We asked general habits of eating as well as barriers to weight loss and maintaining a healthy diet. Video-recorded observations (20 minutes) followed
    • audio-recorded interviews (45 minutes). Data were organized into four primary sections: (1) confirmatory data, where the interviews and observations
    • held similar information; (2) discrepancies between what was reported in the
    • interview and what was observed in the home; (3) new information that was
    • unique to the observation and was not mentioned during the interview; and
    • (4) clarification of data collected in the interview and observation. In general,
    • the observations contained more confirmatory data for participants who had
    • been successful at weight control than those who had not. The majority of
    • observational data were emergent, which led to the discovery of new data
    • of which we were unaware prior to the observations.
    • Keywords
    • qualitative research, observations, weight loss, weight management, obesity
    • of which we were unaware prior to the observations.
    Publication Date
    • 2022-07-25
    • 2014-04-08
  • Updated