Non experimental

Question 1

Give a strength of a controlled observation

Answer 1

P)High in reliability
E)as the environment is controlled and standardised (contextualise e.g what has been
controlled?)
E)so the observation can be easily repeated
to check for consistent results,
L)Therefore, the controlled observation will gain more respect from other professionals and members of the public.

Question 2

Give the limitations of a controlled observation

Answer 2

P)Low in ecological validity
E)as the observation takes place in a controlled/artificial setting (context)
E) which does not reflect real life.
L)Therefore, it is more difficult to generalise the results beyond the setting of the observation which lowers the external validity of the research.

ONLY USE THE TERM DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS & HELP/HINDER IF THE PPTS ARE OVER 10 YEARS OLD.

P)More prone to demand characteristics
E)as ppts are more likely to know they are being watched (context)
E)therefore they are likely to change their natural behaviour and may help or hinder the research based on clues given.

Question 3

Strengths of naturalistic observation

Answer 3

ONLY USE THE TERM DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS & HELP/HINDER IF PPTS ARE OVER 10 YEARS OLD

P)Less prone to demand characteristics
E) as people are less likely to know they are being watched (contextualise e.g. be specific about what natural setting they are in, where the target behaviour (say what it is) would normally occur)
E)therefore they are unlikely to change their natural behaviour, and are less likely to help or hinder the research
L)increasing the internal validity of the observation.

P) High ecological validity
E) as the observation takes place in a natural setting (contextualise e.g. what is the natural setting)
E)therefore it is easier to generalise the results (contextualise e.g what are they researching?) beyond the setting of the observation to other similar settings
L) increasing the external validity of the research.

Question 4

Limitations of naturalistic observations

Answer 4

P)Low in reliability
E)as they are being observed in a natural environment (contextualise e.g. be specific about what natural setting they are in and what is not being controlled)
L) therefore very difficult to replicate the observation in the exact same conditions to achieve consistent results.

P)This could create an ethical issue of lack of informed consent E)as people may not be aware they are being observed due to being observed in their natural setting (contextualise setting) L)therefore have not given their consent to take part. If they become aware they may wish to withdraw their data from the study.

Question 5

Limitations of naturalistic observations

Answer 5

P)Low in reliability
E)as they are being observed in a natural environment (contextualise e.g. be specific about what natural setting they are in and what is not being controlled)
L) therefore very difficult to replicate the observation in the exact same conditions to achieve consistent results.

P)This could create an ethical issue of lack of informed consent E)as people may not be aware they are being observed due to being observed in their natural setting (contextualise setting) L)therefore have not given their consent to take part. If they become aware they may wish to withdraw their data from the study.

Question 6

Strength of an overt observation

Answer 6

P)More ethically appropriate than a covert observation
E)as participants know they are being observed (contextualise e.g. how do you know the observation is overt? Refer to scenario),
L)so the ppts can give consent for their data to be used.

Question 7

Limitation of an overt observation

Answer 7

ONLY USE THE TERM DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS & HELP/HINDER IF PPTS ARE OVER 10 YEARS OLD: IF NOT
THEY WILL JUST CHANGE THEIR NATURAL BEHAVIOUR

P)More prone to demand characteristics
E) as ppts are more likely to know they are being watched (contextualise e.g. how do you know the research is overt? Refer to scenario)
E)therefore ppts are likely to change their natural behaviour and may help or hinder the research based on clues given off by the observer or environment.
L)Therefore this could lower the internal validity.

Question 8

Strength of a covert observation

Answer 8

ONLY USE THE TERM DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS & HELP/HINDER IF PPTS ARE OVER 10 YEARS OLD

P)Less prone to demand characteristics
E)as people are less likely to know they are being watched (contextualise e.g. how do you know the research is covert? Refer to scenario)
E)therefore they are unlikely to change their natural behaviour, and are less likely to help or hinder the research
L) increasing the internal validity of the observation

Question 9

Limitation of a covert observation

Answer 9

P)Participants are unaware they are being studied (contextualise e.g. how do you know the research is covert?) E)raising ethical issues such as lack of informed consent and invasion of privacy that would need to be resolved.
L)When ppts are informed they may become upset and choose to withdraw their data.

Question 10

Strength of participant observation

Answer 10

P)The observer can gain an in-depth understanding of the group’s behaviour
E)as they are part of the group (contextualise e.g. how do you know? Refer to the scenario)
E)and so will not miss important aspects e.g. feelings and motivations (contextualise here too if you can to what specific behavior they are observing).
L)Therefore, this increases the overall internal validity of the observation

Question 11

Limitation of participant observation

Answer 11

P)There is increased chance of researcher bias
E) as the observer is part of the group (contextualise how you know by referring to the scenario).
E)This decreases the objectivity of the observation as the researcher’s own thoughts and behaviours may impact the observation
L)and therefore lowers the internal validity of research.

Question 12

Strength of non participant observation

Answer 12

P)There is reduced chance of researcher bias
E)as the observer is not part of the group (contextualise how you know by referring to the scenario).
E)This increases the objectivity of the observation as the researcher’s own thoughts and behaviours are less likely to impact the observation
L)and therefore the overall internal validity research.

Question 13

Limitation of non-participant observation

Answer 13

P)The observer is less likely to gain an in-depth understanding of the group’s behaviour
E)as they are not part of the group (contextualise e.g. how do you know? Refer to the scenario) and
E)so may miss important aspects e.g. feelings and motivations (contextualise here too if you can to what specific behavior they are observing).
L)Therefore, this lowers the overall internal validity of the observation

Question 14

Strength of event sampling

Answer 14

P)One strength of event sampling is that it is useful when behaviour happens infrequently
E)as the ppts are watched over a period of time and the behaviour category (context) is recorded every time it occurs
E) so researchers are less likely to miss behaviour
L)This is unlike time sampling in which if the behaviour happens infrequently it may be missed

Question 15

Limitation of event sampling

Answer 15

P) However, a limitation of event sampling is that if the behavior being observed is complex/happens very often the observer may miss some behaviors (context)
E)as they cannot tally in time
L)unlike time sampling in which the researcher only tallies at set time intervals and is, therefore, less likely to miss these behaviors

Question 16

Strength of time sampling

Answer 16

P) A strength of time sampling is that it reduces the amount of time the observers have to observe behaviors for (contextualize-what behavior and how long)
E)as they only observe in set time intervals
E) however as the researchers are only observing at set time intervals the behavior tallied (context) may not be representative of the observation as a whole

Question 17

Strengths of questionnaire x2

Answer 17

P)They can tackle sensitive issues such as homosexuality (or contextualise to scenario if the issue being investigated is sensitive) –
E)as Ppts data can remain anonymous, by the researcher not asking for their name.
E) This means ppts answers may be more likely to be honest as ppts may be happier to disclose sensitive information when they are anonymous.
L) Increasing the internal validity. (unlike an interview, where the researcher is present and the ppt may not feel comfortable answering sensitive questions truthfully face to face, reducing the internal validity).

P)Reduction of investigator effects
E) as the researcher does not have to be present whilst the ppts completes the questionnaire.
E)Therefore researcher’s response to the participant’s answer is not visible and their characteristics will not influence the participant’s answers.
L)(unlike an interview, where the researcher has to be present, therefore this increases the internal validity of the questionnaire).

Question 18

Weakness of questionnaire

Answer 18

P)A further weakness is misinterpretation of questions.
E) For example a ppt may not understand a question and as the researcher is not present, they cannot ask for clarification meaning they could leave the question or give invalid information.
E) Moreover, the researcher could misinterpret/not understand the ppts answer and again cannot ask for clarification, lowering the internal validity.
L) (Unlike in an interview, where the researcher is present so the ppt/researcher can ask for clarification, increasing the internal validity

Question 19

Strength + weakness of open questions/qualitative

Answer 19

Provides in-depth, rich detailed data which provides greater understanding of the content/behaviour in question (context).

Open to researcher bias as participant’s responses (context) will be open to the subjective interpretation of the researcher.

Question 20

Strength + weakness of closed questions/quantitative data

1 x strength
2 x weaknesses

Answer 20

Strength
-Easier to analyse and collate the data allowing comparisons to be made between groups of people enabling conclusions to be made about behaviour (context).

Weaknesses
-Lacks depth and insight into behaviour (context) in question, therefore the answers could lack validity.

-Could be open to response bias where ppts reply in a similar way, e.g. always ticking ‘yes’ or answering at the same favoured end of a rating scale, lowering internal validity.

Question 21

Weakness of UNSTRUCTURED interviews

Answer 21

Weakness

P)It can be hard to identify patterns and trends
E)as all participants are asked different questions (contextualise: What will the questions investigate?)
E)making the responses harder to analyse and make comparisons between Ppts
L)UNLIKE a structured interview where all Ppts answer the same questions.

Question 22

Strength of UNSTRUCTURED interviews

Answer 22

Strength

P)The researcher can allow the person to go into more depth with their responses
E)as questions are based on the responses of the interviewer. E)This means that they can gain a fuller understanding of the Ppts behaviour (contextualise e.g. refer to the behaviour being studied from scenario
L)UNLIKE a structured interview where participants only answer a set list of questions where there is no deviation, increasing the internal validity of an unstructured interview.

Question 23

Strength of STRUCTURED interviews

Answer 23

Strength

P)All participants get the same questions
E)meaning that it is possible to compare responses and identify trends and patterns much more easily about (contextualise e.g. refer to the behaviour being studied from scenario)
L)UNLIKE unstructured interview where Ppts get different questions, therefore it’s hard to make comparisons.

Question 24

Weakness of STRUCTURED interviews

Answer 24

Weakness

P)The researcher cannot deviate from the pre-set questions E)meaning they cannot follow up on new lines of enquiry.
E)This may mean they do not get a full understanding of behaviour (contextualise e.g. refer to the behaviour being studied from scenario)
L)UNLIKE in an unstructured interview where questions can be developed based on reponses from previous questions.

Question 25

Weakness of a correlational analysis

Answer 25

Weakness
P)It is difficult to establish cause and effect between the two variables
E)as only a relationship is found between the two variables (contextualise: state which covariables are being investigated). E)Therefore other extraneous variables could have been responsible for the relationship found (contextualise: such as what? Name another intervening variable which might impact the relationship)
L) which lowers the internal validity.

Question 26

Strength of a correlational analysis

Answer 26

Strength
P)There is no manipulation of the variables
E)so it is appropriate to use when studying sensitive issues that may raise ethical issues or when it would be inappropriate to manipulate a situation (contextualise: What would be unethical to manipulate in your scenario? e.g. is there a relationship between addiction and stress?)
L) whereas in an experiment it would be impractical and unethical to investigate a cause and effect.

Question 27

Strength of case studies

Answer 27

P) Case studies offer rich, detaied insights into unusual forms of behaviour (context)
E)that would otherwise be difficult to manipulate in an experimental setting, e.g. when investigating the effects of brain damage or memory loss.
L)Therefore increasing our understanding of complex behaviour.

Question 28

Weaknesses of case studies

Answer 28

P)Low population validity
E) as it only conducted on one person or small group (contextualise to scenario, who is the individual or small group being studied?).
E)Therefore it will difficult to generalise the findings to the target population (contextualise, who would it be difficult to generalise to and why?)
L) lowering the external validity.

P)Case studies often rely on retrospective data e.g. personal accounts from the individuals past or from family and friends. E)These accounts may be prone to inaccuracy and memory decay.
L) Therefore lowering the internal validity of the case study.