Table of Contents
Definition of Unit of Observation
(noun) What is described by research data.
Example of Unit of Observation
- The entire country is the unit of observation for the United States census that happens every ten years (decennially).
Unit of Observation Pronunciation
Syllabification: u·nit of ob·ser·va·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /yOO-nuht uhv ahb-suhr-vAY-shuhn/
- British English – /yOO-nit UHv ob-zuh-vAY-shuhn/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˈjunət ʌv ˌɑbzərˈveɪʃən/
- British English – /ˈjuːnɪt ɒv ˌɒbzə(ː)ˈveɪʃən/
Usage Notes
- Plural: units of observation
- Not to be confused with a unit of analysis which is who or what is studied during research. Using the example above, in the United States census the country is the unit of observation but each individual is the unit of analysis.
Related Video
Additional Information
- Quantitative Research Resources – Books, Journals, and Helpful Links
- Word origin of “unit” and “observation” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
Related Terms
- cohort
- data
- hypothesis
- qualitative research
- quantitative research
- reliability
- research
- statistics
- statistical analysis
Cite the Definition of Unit of Observation
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “unit of observation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved April 20, 2024 (https://sociologydictionary.org/unit-of-observation/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
unit of observation. (2014). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/unit-of-observation/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2014. “unit of observation.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed April 20, 2024. https://sociologydictionary.org/unit-of-observation/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“unit of observation.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2014. Web. 20 Apr. 2024. <https://sociologydictionary.org/unit-of-observation/>.