beobachteter

Beobachteter is a German noun formed from the verb beobachten (to observe). It designates a person or thing that has been observed, i.e., the subject of observation. The masculine singular form is der Beobachtete, and the plural is typically die Beobachteten. The term is distinct from Beobachter, which refers to the observer rather than the person or thing being observed.

Beobachteter can also appear as an attributive adjective in lowercase, meaning “observed” or “being observed” when placed before a noun, for example ein beobachteter Fall or ein beobachteter Zeuge. In this adjectival use, the form declines according to the noun’s gender, number, and case (e.g., beobachteter Bericht, beobachtete Fälle).

Common contexts for the word include scientific and social research, psychology, criminology, and journalism, where researchers or reporters describe data or subjects that have been observed. In experimental designs, the Beobachtete are the participants whose behavior or responses are recorded, distinguishing them from the Beobachter, the observers who record the data.

Etymology traces Beobachteter to beobachen plus the nominalizing suffix -er, yielding a noun that identifies the recipient of the act of observing. The term emphasizes the passive role of the subject within the observation process and is often contrasted with terms for the observer or the act of observing itself.

See also: Beobachtung (observation), Beobachter (observer).