9. Observational Design Flashcards
What is an unstructured observation?
When the researcher writes down everything they see
When should you use an unstructured observation?
When observations are small in scale and involve few participants
What is a structured observation ?
When the researcher only records down things relevant to the target behaviour
When would you use a structure observation?
When there is too much going on in a single observation for the researcher to record it all e.g the playground
What are behavioural categories ?
When a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable
How could a target behaviour of affection be broken down ?
Kissing, hugging, holding hands, smiling etc.
What is continuous recording ?
All instances of a target behaviour are recorded
What is event sampling ?
A target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this every time it occurs
What is time sampling ?
A target individual or group is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame
What is inter-observer reliability ?
Used to assess the degree to which different raters/observers give consistent estimates of the same research study
Why is inter observer reliability used ?
Single observers may miss important details or may only notice events that conform their hypothesis, this introduces bias.
How do you carry out inter observer reliability?
- Observers should familiarise themselves with the behavioural categories
- observe the Same behaviour at the same time
- compare the data they have and discuss any differences in interpretations
- analyse data from the study
What are the strengths of structured observations ?
- recording data is easier & more systematic
- quantitative data is easy to analyse and compare
What are the weaknesses of a structured observation?
- results aren’t as in depth and detailed
- restricted information about what is happening
- behaviours May be missed
What are the strengths of an unstructured observation ?
- qualitative data means it is more in depth and detailed
- unexpected behaviours are included
What are the weaknesses of unstructured observation?
- Difficult to analyse
- hard to replicate
- greater risk of observer bias by recording most noticeable behaviours which may be irrelevant information
What are the most important things when creating behavioural categories?
- You need to make it as clear and unambiguous as possible
- they must be observable, measurable and self evident
- should ensure that all possible forms of the year get behaviour is included
- categories shouldn’t overlap
When should you use event sampling ?
When the target behaviour or event happens quite infrequently and could be missed if time sampling
What is a weakness of time sampling ?
If a specified event is too complex, the observer may overlook important details
What is a strength of time sampling ?
It is effective in reducing the number of observations that have to be made
What is a weakness of time sampling ?
In instances when behaviour is sampled, it may be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole
