Using Video in Research

Have you ever tried writing down every action someone is taking while performing a task? The loss of accuracy is astounding when you get the chance to look back over your notes – not only will there be a lot of detail missing, but there will be a loss of context. You eventually must go back and try and fill in the blanks from memory – and no one’s memory is exactly the most reliable source of information, especially if a decent amount of time has passed.

Self-reporting can be just as inefficient if not worse. There is an inherent bias with self-reporting, and we as people are prone to missing surrounding context or even the full context or our own actions – and we also tend to believe that if we can’t perform a task, it’s the fault of some external factor instead of our own oversights. Some research methods attempt to counteract this by limiting the scope of responses (such as multiple choice), but in many cases this leads to a major loss in nuance.

Video research is one of the best resources we have in combating these constraints. When performing physical tasks, video can capture the full range of motion that a person uses to complete the task (for example, sports research has taken advantage of this capability extensively). If you’re analyzing the moving parts of a machine, you can cycle through the motions as many times as necessary to find what you’re looking for. Or if you’re watching a chemical reaction that changes colors, you can watch the full spectrum of the change instead of just reporting, “It slowly changed from yellow to orange, then red.”

Video technology is more affordable and portable than ever. We live in an era where almost anyone can make an efficient research video with minimal experience or training, and cloud data mitigates any potential loss due to user error as well as allowing for teams to access the data from anywhere in the world. It’s time to finally take advantage of all that video research has to offer, and Curator Video can make that process easier than ever – contact us today for a free demo.

Share:

DO MORE WITH YOUR RESEARCH

Let's talk about making managing your research simple.

Whatever the environment, Curator Video has you covered with an end-to-end platform built with the researcher in mind.