what is naturalistic observation?
Definition. Naturalistic observation is research that involves studying the subject of interest in its own environment, as it would occur in day-to-day life. The subject of interest may be human or non-human or it can be the behavior of living things or the interactions of non-living things with their environment.
Cases studies and archival research are special types of observational research. Naturalistic (or nonparticipant) observation has no intervention by a researcher. It is simply studying behaviors that occur naturally in natural contexts, unlike the artificial environment of a controlled laboratory setting.