Unobtrusive measures for media research

Unobtrusive measures are measures that—unlike self‐reports—do not intrude on or interfere with the context of the research. Observation, physical traces, and archives and documents are the three main categories of nondigital unobtrusive data. Digital unobtrusive measures can be collected online or offline, at aggregate or individual levels. Merits of unobtrusive measures are that they are not influenced by the research situation, make it possible to reach hard to get respondents, and allow for data collection from older or longer time periods. Digital unobtrusive data come in great numbers and give a detailed picture of user behavior. Limitations of unobtrusive measures include issues of validity, privacy, and representativity.