Naturalistic observation

Naturalistic observation, sometimes referred to as fieldwork, is a research methodology in numerous fields of science including ethology, anthropology, linguistics, the social sciences, and psychology, in which data are collected as they occur in nature, without any manipulation by the observer.

Examples range from watching an animal's eating patterns in the forest to observing the behavior of students in a school setting.

There is similarity to observational studies in which the independent variable of interest cannot be experimentally controlled for ethical or logistical reasons.

Observations are more credible because the behavior occurs in a real, typical scenario as opposed to an artificial one generated within a lab.

[6][5] However, because extraneous variables cannot be controlled as in a laboratory, it is difficult to replicate findings and demonstrate their reliability.