If you are finished with the next three steps, you are ready to start with the observations:
oSetup your coding system in one or more Code definitions
oSelected your source of observation
As explained in detail in Coding Modes and Methods, INTERACT offers different ways to log your observations.
Besides the different coding modes and numerous ways to setup a coding system, there are two fundamental ways to log observations:
 | Event-based - Most behavioral studies collect data in Events with variable length, whenever a behavior occurs. This is also referred to as Event sampling: |
▪Follow the instructions in the section EVENT SAMPLING - Log Behavioral Events; to learn about the differences between the available coding modes.
| Interval-based - If you need to collect data in fixed, intervals, which is referred to as Time Sampling, your start out quite differently: |
▪Follow the instructions in the section TIME SAMPLING - Interval-based Scores, to learn how to create the required intervals and how to fill those intervals with data.
Note: It is also possible to combine those two in different passes!
Example: If you define predefined intervals - to judge for instance the emotional state of the subject - you can enter your Codes into those pre-defined Events in one pass and start an Event-based session in another pass through your video (order of these passes is irrelevant). You can collect this information all within the same document. During analysis, you can find out how much the emotional state influences the subjects actions.
IMPORTANT: Make sure you read Event-Sampling vs. Time Sampling before you continue with an interval-based approach.