4.7.1: What Is Left Behind (Physical Trace)

Learning Objectives

• Differentiate between types of physical traces.
• Identify potential physical traces that might be relevant for your research questions.

Another way to gather data unobtrusively is to collect what is left behind, and use that to make judgments about what behaviors occurred. In social science research, the remnants of behavior are called physical traces. According to Wikipedia (2024), these remnants could be any number of items, and are usually divided into two main categories.

Use traces indicate the use or non-use of an item. Fingerprints, for example, fall into the category of use traces, along with candy wrappers, cigarette cartons, and countless other objects (Wikipedia, 2024). Other examples of physical traces of behavior include worn paths across campus, the materials in a landfill or in someone’s trash can (Rathje, 1992; Rathje & Murthy, 1992), indentations in furniture, or empty shelves in the grocery store.

In contrast, products, sometimes called material artifacts (especially by sociologists), are the creations or artifacts of behavior. An example of a product might be a painting, a song, a dance or television (Wikipedia, 2024). Other examples include video games and video game equipment, sculptures, mementos left on gravestones, housing structures, or even kitchen utensils. Whereas use physical traces tell us more about the behavior of an individual, products speak more to contemporary cultural themes (Wikipedia, 2024) by indicating tell us something about their beliefs, values, or norms.

In the National Museum of American History in Washington, DC. there was an exhibit displaying chef Julia Child’s home kitchen, where she filmed many of her famous cooking shows. This might prompt a researcher to wonder how cooking has changed over the past few decades since Child’s shows were on air. For example, how the layout of our kitchens and the utensils and appliances they contain might influence how we entertain guests, how much time we spend preparing meals, and how much time we spend cleaning up afterward. Our use of particular kitchen gadgets and utensils might even indicate something about our social class identities. Though the glass surrounding the Julia Child's exhibit prevents ideal picture taking, the photos in Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\) give you an idea of what was there. Might the organizational scheme used in this kitchen, or the appliances that are either present or missing from it, shape the answers to the questions posed above about human behaviors and interactions?

Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\): A visit to Chef Julia Child’s kitchen at the National Museum of American History inspired the author to think about how kitchens, kitchen utensils, and kitchen appliances have changed over time

One challenge with analyzing physical traces and material artifacts (products) is that you generally don’t have access to the people who left the traces or created the artifacts that you are analyzing. (If you did find a way to contact them, then your research would no longer qualify as unobtrusive!) It can be especially tricky to analyze meanings of these materials if they come from some historical or cultural context other than your own. Situating the traces or artifacts you wish to analyze both in their original contexts and in your own is not always easy and can lead to problems related to validity and reliability. How do you know that you are viewing an object or physical trace in the way that it was intended to be viewed? Do you have the necessary understanding or knowledge about the background of its original creators or users to understand where they were coming from when they created it?

Imagine an alien trying to understand some aspect of Western human culture simply by examining our artifacts. Cartoonist Mark Parisi demonstrates the misunderstanding that could ensue in his drawing featuring three very small aliens standing atop a toilet. One alien says, “Since water is the life-blood on this planet, this must be a temple of some sort.…Let’s stick around and see how they show their respect” (Parsi, 2006). Without a contextual understanding of Western human culture, the aliens have misidentified the purpose of the toilet, and they will be in for quite a surprise when someone shows up to use it!

The point is that while physical traces and material artifacts make excellent sources of data, analyzing their meaning takes more than simply trying to understand them from your own contextual position. You must also be aware of who caused the physical trace or created the artifact, when they created it, why they created, and for whom they created it. Answering these questions will require accessing materials in addition to the traces or artifacts themselves. It may require accessing historical documents or, if a contemporary trace or artifact, perhaps another method of data collection such as interviews with its creators.

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References

Parisi, M. (2006, May 30). Alien cartoon 6. Off the Mark. https://www.offthemark.com/cartoon/l...den/2006-05-30

Rathje, W. (1992). How much alcohol do we drink? It’s a question…so to speak. Garbage, 4, 18–19.

Rathje, W., & Murthy, C. (1992). Garbage demographics. American Demographics, 14, 50–55.

Wikipedia. (2024, Decemer 29). Observational methods in psychology. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observ..._in_psychology