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            In This Section
        eLearning: Attention
                The Attention Game
                Attention & Distraction
                                Attention: Definition and Examples
                Tasks & Demands
                Distraction: Definition and Examples
                Strategies to Manage Distractions
                The Cost of Distraction
                                First person: Distraction and its Consequences
                Attention Related Accidents
                BNSF coal train collision
                Metrolink 111 collision with UP. Chatsworth. Sept 2008
                Canadian National collision, Two Harbors MN Sept 2010.
                HiRail collision, Rockville, MD. Jan 2010
                Rear end collision, Mineral Springs NC
                Pedestrian fatality, West Jordan, UT
                Rear end collision, Westville IN
                Derailment, Bronx NY Dec 2013
                Port Authority collision, Hoboken NJ, May 2011
                Santiago de Compostela derailment, July 2013
                Amtrak 188 Derailment May 2015
                Bad Aibling, GER Collision, February 2016
                Human Systems Integration
                                Overview
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                Examples of Well-Designed Process & Technologies
                HSI Guidelines
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                                Overview
                Field Observation
                Link Analysis
                Functional Analysis
                Activity Analysis
                Workload Assessment
                Cognitive Task Analysis
                Verbal Protocol Analysis
                Rapid Prototyping
                Experimentation
                Usability Assessment
                
                Field Observation
    

    
    
          ***Learn how work is actually done in real circumstances.***

A woman wearing a hard hat.Observing people in the context of their work environment can be used to gain insight into how individuals and teams perform their work. By watching intently in actual work settings, understanding “emerges from the researcher’s own observations and interviews out in the real world rather than in the laboratory or the academy” (Patton, 2002:11).

Observation can allow insights and access to information that is difficult to obtain via other methods. Observations can enable first-hand discovery of operational and environmental demands --such as the heat and vibration of a locomotive cab. It can enable insight into how communication occurs across the team and what inhibits effective information flow (e.g., noise level, unreliable radios). It can also illuminate what affects operator’s attention and strategies they use to manage it.

Field observation can be particularly useful for highlighting disconnects between “work-as-done” versus “work-as-imagined” (Hollnagel, 2012). Work-as-imagined refers to what managers or authority figures believe happens (or *should* happen) on the job based on how it has been trained or prescribed through regulations and operating procedures. Work-as-done is what *actually* happens in reality, as operators adjust, make trade offs, and adopt work-arounds to perform their work efficiently and safely.

Field observation is most useful when combined with other methods for understanding human performance, including operator interviews or verbal protocol analysis.

Tips for Performing Field Observation:

Determine whether field observation is feasible. In some cases, it may not be possible due to logistics or concerns about interfering with the operators’ work. In these situations, you might explore the possibility of video recordings, or using alternative data collection methods.

Develop an observation guide that provides a set of topics or questions to focus one’s attention while observing. Potential topics include:

Use of technology, tools, and physical artifacts
	Coordination and communication across the team
	WorkaroundsWhile an observation guide can be useful, it is also important to remain open to discovery.

Describe the purpose of your observation to those you are observing.  Observers who come across as informed, sincere, and there to help improve the operator’s tools and work environment will be more likely to be accepted by the operators (Crandall et al., 2006).
	Be as unobtrusive as possible, so as not to interrupt or impede the work being observed.If the operators understand your purpose for observing, they will be less likely to alter their behavior due to your presence and more likely to work as they do normally.
	Take detailed notes on the events and behavior you observe. It can often be useful to capture the flow of activity as it happens, and then organize or categorize the information at a later time****
              Sources
      
                              
                  
                  Hollnagel, E. (2012). FRAM: The Functional Resonance Analysis Method: Modelling Complex Socio-technical Systems. Farnham, UK: Ashgate.
	Patton, M. (2002). Qualitative Research and Evaluation Methods. 3rd Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.For more on Field Observation, see:

Crandall, B., Klein, G., and Hoffman, R. (2006). *Working minds: A**practitioner’s guide to cognitive task analysis*. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
	Nemeth, C (2004). *Human factors methods for design*. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor and Francis/CRC Press
	Stanton, N., Salmon, P., Walker, G., Baber, C. & Jenkins, D. (2005).  *Human factors methods: A practical guide for engineering and**design.* Farnham, UK: Ashgate Publishing.
      
    
          Last updated: Friday, October 25, 2019 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

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