LT7: Describe and evaluate the observational research method including both naturalistic and structured observations.

Question 1

What does an observation involve?

Answer 1

Observations involve watching and recording behaviour as it is seen. Behaviour may be observed live, recorded for later viewing or observed using a one-way mirror so the observers are hid from the child’s view.

Question 2

What are the two types of observation and where do they take place?

Answer 2

Naturalistic observation - is where behaviour is observed in a natural setting for the child such as at home, nursery or school.
Structured observations - where children are observed in a staged environment often completing staged activities.

Question 3

What are two types of observation in terms of being aware?

Answer 3

Overt observations - the child is aware that they are being watched.
Covert observations - the child is unaware, but the permission must be gained from the parent or carer, so they have fully informed consent.

Question 4

What are two types of observation to do with the researcher?

Answer 4

Non - participant - this is usually used in child psychology whereby the observer watches from a distance. 
Participant - whereby the researcher might join a school class as a training teacher or LSA so he or she can take part in activities alongside the children.

Question 5

What two types of data can be gathered in child psychology observations?

Answer 5

Qualitative - in the form of descriptions of what the child is doing.
Quantitative data - by counting how many times a child plays with a toy, or girls play with the opposite sex, this is done by a coding schema, categorising behaviour which is being observed.

Question 6

In terms of recording data what are 2 types of sampling?

Answer 6

Time sampling - e.g. during a one hour observation researchers only record behaviour for a particular period of time e.g. 10 seconds every minute and the other 50 seconds making notes.
Event sampling - e.g. researchers only record specific events e.g. when a girl plays with a boys toy.

Question 7

Where do naturalistic observations take place in child psychology?

Answer 7

Naturalistic observations are conducted in a natural setting for the child being watched, this can be in the playground, at nursery or even at home.

Question 8

In naturalistic observations is there any manipulation?

Answer 8

There is no manipulation of the environment in naturalistic observations into child psychology from the researcher.

Question 9

For a naturalistic observation of play where may you conduct the observation?

Answer 9

To observe play, a researcher might choose a playground to observe the natural social interaction which takes place.

Question 10

What other features other than social interaction may be seen in a naturalistic observation?

Answer 10

Other features of child development can be studied such as language development as the child will show natural behaviour in a natural situation.

Question 11

Why might a naturalistic observation be used over a structured one in child psychology?

Answer 11

In natural observations there is no interference from a planned task or activity, so are often used when a structured observation would be too unrealistic, too costly or would affect the childs behaviour to much.

Question 12

Give an example of a naturalistic observation?

Answer 12

Ainsworth was interested in parent-child relationships in Uganda therefore her observations, which took place over many months and for several hours at a time, were mainly in the home, where the interaction is more neutral.

Question 13

Where do structured observations usually take place?

Answer 13

Structured observations usually take place in a staged artificial environment such as a lab.

Question 14

What situation would be set up in a structured observation in child psychology?

Answer 14

The procedure is set up to involve a task or situation in which the behaviour of the child is observed.

Question 15

How may the room be set up in a structured observation in child psychology?

Answer 15

Furniture and certain toys may be set up and the surroundings to make the child feel more comfortable in the situation.

Question 16

What does the observer do in a structured observation of children? And how

Answer 16

An observer records the behaviour or emotional reaction of the child. This sometimes happens through a one way mirror so that the presence of the observer does not affect the behaviour of the child

Question 17

What data is usually produced in a structured observation?

Answer 17

Structured observations can usually produce quantitative data as a coding system will be used. This is a way of categorising behaviour so that you can observe and record in terms of how frequent certain types of behaviour occur.

Question 18

Give an example of a structured observation from child psychology.

Answer 18

Ainsworths’ strange situation set up an artificial situation to record the behaviour of a child when the mother left them alone or with a stranger. Each of the 8 episodes of the observation were staged.

Question 19

What is a strength of using naturalistic experiments: validity

Answer 19

High in ecological validity because the children are in their natural surroundings so their behaviour and interaction with others is spontaneous and as it would be normally. This means that the results will be true to life because the children are in the context where this behaviour naturally occurs, allowing the results to be generalised to similar real life situations.

Question 20

What is a strength of using naturalistic experiments: reliability

Answer 20

Naturalistic observations are high in reliability because researcher bias can be controlled. This can easily be done by making sure that more the one observer is used in every situation in order to check for inter-observer reliability, and consistent results. Using well-trained observers who can carry out time sampling carefully, with tallying and well prepared categories allows for reliability to be checked through cross checking their results.

Question 21

What is a weakness of using naturalistic experiments: validity

Answer 21

Naturalistic observations are low in reliability as the children are aware that they are being observed e.g. From the presence of video cameras or observers as they may behave differently from normal. Furthermore, researchers may experience observer drift where they move away from what they planned to observe and observer bias may affect the recordings of results thus lowering the accuracy of their findings.

Question 22

What is a weakness of using naturalistic experiments: reliability

Answer 22

Naturalistic observations are low in reliability because extraneous variables that might crop up in a real environment are not controlled such as the time of day, the situation, the set of children and the observers. This makes it difficult to replicate as identical conditions will be unlikely to be repeated so data cannot be tested easily for consistent results.

Question 23

What is a strength of using structured observations: reliability

Answer 23

Structured observations are high in reliability because extraneous variables which might alter the behaviour of the child in a natural situation are controlled for, such as alternative toys or other children. The procedures are also highly standardised, as the same environment, task, furniture is used and the same situation can be repeated with another child. The results can therefore be checked and compared for consistency in the results.

Question 24

What is a strength of using structured observations: practicality

Answer 24

Structured observations are useful in child psychology because the staged situation is less time consuming than naturalistic observations. This is because they do not need to wait for for spontaneous behaviour to occur. A structured observation is able to prompt the behaviour being researched which saves time and resources.

Question 25

What is a weakness of using structured observations: ecological validity

Answer 25

Structured observations are low in ecological validity because the child is placed in a staged situation and artificial environment, meaning the child’s behaviour may not be spontaneous and natural. For example in Ainsworths study into attachment types the child may have been crying because they were in an unfamiliar setting rather than because of the mother leaving. As natural behaviour is not measured in a realisic way, this limits the generalisability of the research to real life situations involving the behaviour observed.

Question 26

What is a weakness of using structured observations: validity

Answer 26

Low in validity because of demand characteristics can occur when observing children in an artificial setting, by altering their behaviour to meet the demands of the situation. The children may be aware that the situation is set up and guess the point of the study and not show spontaneous behaviour meaning the data is not reflecting true behaviour.

Question 27

What is a weakness of using structured observations: reliability

Answer 27

Structured observations may suffer from researcher bias because the observer may be biased and interpret behaviour according to prior assumptions based on other research. This means there may be subjective interpretation which leads to inconsistency between observers, as a result reliability is lowered.