Practical issues in self-observation

Using self-observation as a clinical or research tool requires attention to a number of practical concerns. In this article, issues involved in select ing a self-observation method are considered, including determining the dim ension of behavior to be observed and choosing a method and recording devic e for sampling behavior. The literature on Graining individuals to self-obs erve, which supports the importance of comprehensive multicomponent brainin g, is surveyed. Also considered are ways of evaluating and improving data q uality as the self-observer collects information and of engineering complia nce with requests to self-monitor. Future research should (a) systematicall y examine ways of obtaining high, quality self-observation data and enhanci ng participant compliance and (b) extend findings of older investigations b oth to contemporary methods of collecting information and to self-observati on of private events.