The phrase "lay observer" is grammatically correct and can be used in written English.
It refers to an individual who is not a trained professional or expert in a particular field but is able to offer their observations or opinions based on their own experiences or common knowledge. Example: According to a lay observer, the new government policies have had a negative impact on the economy. In this sentence, the term "lay observer" is used to contrast the perspective of a non-expert with that of a professional economist.
For the lay observer, it's befuddling.
"Iron" Mike Tyson has given a series of interviews, or rather sympathetically edited monologues to Toback, and it is undoubtedly true that he is more intelligent and introspective than any lay observer could have imagined.
Parkour is also known to some as free running or street tumbling, and while the cognoscenti quibble over what differentiates one from the other, a lay observer could simply describe all forms of the sport as a sort of outdoor gymnastics.
But most of the dozen or so ice scientists I've consulted of late (and several dozen since 2000) remain closer in their views to Cecilia Bitz of the University of Washington, who recently agreed with my notion (as a longtime, but lay, observer) that there's "a 50-50 chance it will take a few decades".
The union applications had sought to rely on the legal test, in a 2000 case, that "a judge is disqualified if a fair-minded lay observer might reasonably apprehend that the judge might not bring an impartial mind to the resolution of the question the judge is required to decide".
"I have concluded that it is not the case that a fair-minded lay observer might apprehend that I might not bring an impartial mind to the resolution of the questions which the work of the commission requires to be decided," he said.
In the debacle at WorldCom, accused of hiding operating costs in order to exaggerate its earnings, that is as big a puzzle for accountants and auditing experts as it is for lay observers.
The Riverhead Foundation, the region's official marine-mammal rescue group, chose to wait for evening high tide to see if the dolphin could return to the harbor on its own, rather than trying to capture the animal, a decision widely second-guessed by lay observers.
According to a range of empirical studies, including one conducted by me and my social psychologist collaborator, Matthew Kugler, lay observers draw a sharp moral distinction between file sharing and genuine theft, even when the value of the property is the same.
This study was a comparative evaluation of voice recordings by voice professionals and lay observers.
D Volcanic impacts witnessed and/or reported post-eruption by lay observers (e.g. public, media)), and hazard intensity not recorded.
