Observation: Reliability and Validity

Question 1

what is participant observation ?

Answer 1

when the observer is a participant

Question 2

what are two positives of participant observation ?

Answer 2

1) special insights into behaviour from the ‘inside’ that may otherwise be missed
2) observer sees more detail because they are on the inside not at a distance

Question 3

what are two negatives of participant observation ?

Answer 3

1) reduced objectivity (observer bias), leads to more subjectivity
2) observation likely to be overt, so participants aware, affecting behaviour

Question 4

what is non-participant observation ?

Answer 4

when the observer is not a participant in the study

Question 5

what are two positives of non-participant observation ?

Answer 5

1) increased objectivity (psychological and also possibly physical distance)
2) can observe unobtrusively so participants behave naturally

Question 6

what are two negatives of non-participant observation ?

Answer 6

1) outside observer may misinterpret communication within the group
2) observer may see less

Question 7

what is a structured observation ?

Answer 7

where some variables are manipulated by the researcher

Question 8

what are two positives of structured observation ?

Answer 8

1) controlled environment allows study of unusual behaviours
2) possible to draw tentative casual conclusions (then do the experiment)

Question 9

what are two negatives of structured observation ?

Answer 9

1) unnatural environment, participants may not behave as in everyday life
2) if participants aware of observation, might lead to demand characteristics

Question 10

what is a naturalistic observation ?

Answer 10

when everything id left as usual, may use behavioural categories

Question 11

what are two positives of naturalistic observation ?

Answer 11

1) realistic picture of natural behaviour, so high ecological validity
2) useful method for new area of research

Question 12

what are two negatives of naturalistic observation ?

Answer 12

1) observation is likely to be covert, raising ethical issues
2) difficult to draw conclusions if focus is too wide

Question 13

what is overt observation ?

Answer 13

when the participants are aware of being observed

Question 14

what are two positives of overt observation ?

Answer 14

1) avoids lack of informed consent since participants decide to participate and are aware of being observed
2) easier to see what is going on, observer doesn’t have to hide

Question 15

what are two negatives of overt observation ?

Answer 15

1) participants alter their behaviour if they know they are being observed
2) time required obtaining informed consent and also debriefing

Question 16

what is covert observation ?

Answer 16

when observations are made without participant’s knowledge

Question 17

what are two positives of covert observation ?

Answer 17

1) participants behave more naturally because unaware of being observed
2) can use public behaviour, makes observation easier to organise

Question 18

what are two negatives of covert observation ?

Answer 18

1) ethical issues, e.g., lack of informed consent, not able to withdraw their data
2) may be unethical to record behaviour even in public

Question 19

when are observations reliable ?

Answer 19

observations are reliable if we end up with the same data when observations are made the second time (e.g. comparing the observations made by two people of the same event)

Question 20

when do observations have high inter-rater reliability ?

Answer 20

if the scores from one observer correlate positively with the scores from another

Question 21

how can you improve the reliability of your observations ?

Answer 21

by refining behavioural categories and training observers in their use

Question 22

how can the validity of observations be lowered ?

Answer 22

observations can be influenced by the observer’s expectations (observer bias) reducing the objectivity and validity

Question 23

how can validity be increased ?

Answer 23

in overt observations, the presence of an observer may lead participants to behave in atypical ways. - using more than one observer can reduce bias by averaging data across observers (balances out biases)