Non-experiments Flashcards
Define a controlled observation (2)
Give a strength and a weakness
- Conditions manipulated by researcher
- Carried out in laboratory type situation
Strength - High in reliability
Weakness - Low ecological validity
Define a naturalistic observation (2)
Give a strength and a weakness
- Watching natural behaviour in a natural environment where target behaviour would normally occur
- No manipulation of variables
Strength - High ecological validity
Weakness - Low in reliability
Define an overt observation (2)
Give a strength and a weakness
- Participants are aware their behaviour is being observed so aware of purpose of research
- Observer clearly visible to ppt
Strength - More ethically appropriate than covert because they know they are being watched
Weakness - More prone to demand characteristics
Define a covert observation (2)
Give a strength and a weakness
- Observations conducted without knowledge of ppts
- Done by observer being hidden, secret cameras, two way mirror etc
Strength - Less prone to demand characteristics
Weakness - Ppts unaware they are being studied, ethical issues of lack of informed consent
Define a participant observation (2)
Give a strength and a weakness
- Researcher involved with group
- Data collected whilst being part of the group
Strength - Researcher can gain indepth understanding of behaviour as they are part of the group
Weakness - Increased chance of researcher bias
Define a non-participant observation (2)
Give a strength and a weakness
- Researcher not involved with group
- Data collected from distance e.g. video camera
Strength - Reduced chance of researcher bias
Weakness - Less likely to gain in-depth understanding of groups behaviour because they aren’t part of the group
How to conduct event sampling? (2)
- Observer decides on specific events (behaviour categories)
- Relevant events recorded every time they happen within set period of time
How to conduct time sampling? (2)
- Record behaviours shown at specific time interval e.g. every two minutes
- Behaviour observed outside of this time interval should be ignored and not a part of the observation recordings
How to assess reliability of an observation? (4)
INTER OBSERVER
1. Two observers would create and be trained how to use behaviour categories
2. Two observers then conduct observation separately, watching exactly the same behaviour for the same amount of time
3. Tallies from observers should be compared and correlated using stats test
4. A strong positive correlation of +0.8 shows high reliability
What is a self report? (3)
- Participants give information to researcher to provide details on thoughts, feelings and behaviour
- Involves participants responding to questions in an interview or questionnaire
- Questions in questionnaire can be open or closed and questions in interview can be structured or unstructured
Describe what is a questionnaire (2)
Give a strength and a weakness
- Involve asking a large sample of people for information on a topic
- Involves a pre-set list of written questions to which participant responds
Strength - Reduces investigator effects because researcher not present
Weakness - Misinterpretation of questions by participant so can’t ask researcher for clarification, may give invalid information and researcher can’t ask participant
Explain the things the researcher needs to consider when designing the questionnaire (4)
- What type of data - qualitative or quantitative
- Distractor questions so ppts don’t pick up on clues and change their behaviour
- Decide on order of questions - easy first so ppt is at ease
- Carry out pilot study to amend any problems with questionnaire
Explain what is meant by the term correlation co-efficient (2)
- Result from a correlational stats test which tells us how strong or weak a correlation is
- Range from -1 to +1, the closer to 0 the weaker the relationship
What is the difference between a correlation and an experiment? (2)
- In experiment, researcher is looking for a difference between conditions so manipulates IV to see effect on DV. Cause and effect between IV and DV can be established
WHEREAS
- Correlation shows relationship between two co-variables and no manipulation by researcher so cause and effect can’t be established
Give a strength of correlational analysis
Used as starting point to asses possible patterns. If a relationship is found between two variables, could suggest one variable may impact the other so can aid experimental research into the topic or save time and money if no relationship found
