observation unit 1 Flashcards
unstructured observation
where you observe participants without knowing what behaviours you are looking out for. Unstructured observations generally create a qualitative description of what you’ve seen.
structured observation
where you look for very specific behaviours and keep a tally of every time you see a certain behaviour. To use a structured observation you need a coding frame. This means you can collect quantitative data.
Naturalistic observations
when you observe people in a natural setting (a bit like in a field experiment).
Controlled observations
when you put people in a controlled, lab-like environment and observe their behaviour
Naturalistic observations Strengths
Natural behaviours seen (higher ecological validity)
May allow you to record unexpected behaviours
Naturalistic observations weaknesses
Less control of extraneous variables
Harder to record behaviour (e.g. in distance, other people in the way)
Controlled observations strengths
Fewer extraneous variables
Easier to replicate
Easier to record behaviours
Controlled observations weaknesses
Risk of demand characteristics if participants know they are being observed
Lower ecological validity
Participant observations
when the researcher carries out the observation from within the group she is observing.
Non-participant observations
when the participants are observed by someone from outside the group (e.g. when CCTV is used).
Covert observations
involve observing people without their knowledge
Overt observations
are carried out in a way the participants are aware they are being observed
EVENT SAMPLING
This involves looking out for specific behaviours and keeping a tally every time the behaviour occurs (the mobile phone observation we did is an example of event sampling)
Observers continuously observe the area for the whole observation period, always tallying the behaviours.
TIME SAMPLING
This is when the observer only ‘checks in’ on participants in between specific time intervals.
For example, an observer could check participants’ behaviour every 30 minutes, every 5 seconds or once every 24 hours.
Observers do NOT watch the area continuously.
