evaluate observations (20) Flashcards
intro
-observations are where the researcher witnesses the behaviour of a group or individual in order to experience and understand, first hand, their behaviour
-observations take many forms (eg. covert, over, ppt, non-ppt)
-they tend to be unstructured, collecting qualitative data, meaning they are favoured by Interpretivists
practical (weakness)
-the practicality of a research method refers to how easy it is to conduct, looking at access to location, funding, time, and ppts
-observations are not very practical as they require lots of skill on behalf of the researcher, meaning they would need to be trained. They are generally time consuming both to conduct and analyse
-covert ppt observation is particularly impractical and time consuming (the researcher joins in with the observation and the ppts are unaware that they’re being studied) as they must create and maintain a false identity
-an example of a covert ppt observation is Pearson’s 2009 “Cans, Cops, and Carnivals”, looking into football hooliganism: he had to maintain his undercover persona for over 3 years and also was pressured into illegal behaviour
ethical (strength)
-the BSA issued a “statement of ethical conduct” which encouraged researchers to consider ethical issues such as harm, deception, privacy and confidentiality of the ppt. Ethical research must consider the impact the study may have on both the ppts and the researcher themselves
-overt observation is ethical as ppts are fully aware that they’re being observed, meaning that they can give fully informed consent. This also avoids deception, meaning no guidelines are breached and no harm is caused to anyone involved in the study.
theory (strength)
-Interpretivism is an approach to social research that emphasises the need to understand people’s beliefs, attitudes and motives towards their actions to better understand society. Interpretivists believe that human behaviour is complex and cannot be reduced to simple cause and effect relationships, preferring qualitative methods of research, like observations
-observations gather rich, detailed qualitative data. Interpretivists like this as it allows for verstahen, which is an empathetic understanding, which is vital for understanding why people may hold certain beliefs
reliability (weakness)
-reliability refers to the repeatability of a study, so if the study were to be replicated it would produce the same results
-observations are impossible to replicate as they are not standardised, making them a highly unreliable research method
representativeness (weakness)
-representativeness refers to the extent to which a sample mirrors a researcher’s target population and reflects its characteristics
-observations are not a very representative research method. The sample size in observations tends to be quite small and if the people observed are only from one area, we cannot say that it will be the same elsewhere, therefore we cannot consider observations as representative
-an example observation is Venkatesh’s “Gang Leader for a Day”, as only one gang from Chicago was studied, meaning other gangs from other places may not function the same, meaning his research was highly unrepresentative
validity (strength)
-the validity of a research method refers to how detailed and accurate the findings of the study are
-observations are highly valid as they collect highly detailed qualitative data. Covert observation (where ppts do not know they’re being studied) have particularly high validity as there is no chance of the Hawthorne effect, which is where ppts change their behaviour because they know they’re being studied
-an example is “Tearoom Trade”, a 1970s study by Humphreys, a covert observation into male-on-male public sex encounters, where he would watch out for people approaching. This means the men were not aware of his true reasoning for being there, providing natural responses.
