METHODS - observation Flashcards
observational techniques
a way of seeing/listening to what people do without asking them. often used as a way of assessing DV
pos - can capture unexpected behaviour, act differently to how they say they will in self-report methods, insight into spontaneous behaviour
neg - risk of observer bias, interpretation of situation may be affected by expectations, can be reduced by using one or more observers
naturalistic
takes place where the target behaviour would normally occur
strength of naturalistic
high external validity - natural context so behaviour more likely to be spontaneous, more generalisable
weakness of naturalistic
low control - may be uncontrolled EVs, more difficult to detect patterns
controlled
some control/manipulation of variables including control of EVs
strength of controlled
can be replicated - standardised procedures, findings can be checked to see if they occur again
weakness of controlled
low external validity - behaviour may be contrived as a result of the setting, findings cannot be applied to everyday experience
covert
ppts unaware they are being studied
strength of covert
demand characteristics reduced - ppts do not know they are being watched so behaviour will be more natural, increases validity
weakness of covert
ethically questionable - people may not want behaviour recorded, even in public, right to privacy might be affected
overt
participants are aware of being studied
strength of overt
more ethically acceptable - ppts have given consent to be studied, have the right to withdraw if they wish
weakness of covert
demand characteristics - knowledge of being studied influences behaviour, redcues vailidy
participant
the researcher becomes part of the group they are studying
strength of participant
greater insight - experiences same situation as ppts do, enhances validity
weakness of participant
loss of objectivity - researcher may identify too strongly with those they are studying, threatens objectivity and validity of findings
non-participant
researcher remains separate from the group they are studying
strength of non-participant
more objective - mainatins objective distance so less likely to be biased, increase validity
weakness of non-participant
loss of insight - researcher may be too far romoved from those they are studying, reduce validity
behavioural categories (oberservational design)
target behaviour to be observed should be broken up into a set of observable categories
weaknesses of behavioural categories
hard to make clear and unambiguous - should be self-evident and not overlap, ‘smiling’ and ‘grinning’ would be poor categories
dustbin categories - all forms of behaviour should be in the list and not one ‘dustbin’, ‘dumped’ behaviours go unrecorded
time sampling
observations are made at regular intervals
strength of time sampling
reduces no. of observations - rather than recorded everything seen data is recorded at certain intervals, more structured and systematic
weakness of time sampling
unrepresentative - may miss important details outside of the time frame, may not reflect whole behaviour
event sampling
a target behaviour/event is recorded every time it occurs
strength of event sampling
may record infrequent behaviour - still pick up behhaviours that don’t occur at reguar intervals, such behaviours could easily be missed using time sampling
weakness of event sampling
complex behaviour oversimplified - if event is too complex important details may go unrecorded, may affect validity of findings
