Some of the most common include:
Observe individuals and behaviors of interest. If you are interested in teen
smoking, for example, you might go to the local high school or the mall, and
just watch people, taking notes about what is happening.
Conduct behavioral surveys. Surveys can take place over the phone or in
person, and can tell you a lot about what people do, when and why they do it.
Behavioral survey: asks people to respond to questions about certain actions
or behaviors that affect their physical, emotional, or mental well-being. These
behaviors might include cigarette use or habits that might increase the chance
of cardiovascular diseases.
Conduct detailed interviews.Interviews can give you a lot of detailed,
qualitative information you can't get from the (often closed-ended) questions of
a survey.
Conduct focus groups.Focus groups give you many of the same advantages
as interviewing. In it, members of your target group can talk openly about the
problem, feeding each other ideas and telling you things you otherwise might
not have heard.