11. Observations AO3 Flashcards
A weakness of observational techniques
Observer bias risk - interpretation of situation may be affected by expectations
A strength of naturalistic experiments
High external validity - natural contexts - behaviour more likely to be spontaneous - generalisable to everyday
A weakness of naturalistic experiments
Low control - uncontrolled EV - more difficult to detect patterns
A strength of controlled experiments
Can be replicated - more easily represented - standardised procedures - findings can be checked
A weakness of controlled experiments
Low external validity - behaviour may be result of setting - may not apply to everyday
A strength of covert experiments
Reduced demand characteristics- participants unaware of being studied - act normally - increases validity
A weakness of covert experiments
Ethically questionable - may not want behaviour recording - rights to privacy affected
A strength of overt experiments
More ethically acceptable - give consent - right to withdraw
A weakness of overt experiments
Demand characteristics - knowledge of being studied - influences behaviour - reduced validity
A strength of researcher becoming participant
Greater insight - researcher experiences what participants do - enhances validity of findings
A weakness of researcher becoming participants
Loss of objectivity - researcher may identify too strongly with participants - threatens objectivity and validity
A strength of researcher remaining a non-participants
More objective - researcher maintains objective distance - less change of bias - may increase validity
A weakness of researcher remaining a non-participants
Loss of insight - researcher may be too far removed - may reduce validity of findings
A weakness of behavioural categories
Difficult to make clear & unambiguous - categories shouldn’t overlap - should be set clear categories - e.g. Smiling would be a poor category
A strength of time sampling
Reduced number of observations - not recording everything seen - data recorded at intervals
