Observational Design Flashcards
what is unstructured observations
it involves everything that is seen, produces accounts of behaviour that are rich in detail
what are the strengths of unstructured observations
.rich
.detailed data is collected which allows a greater insight
what are the limitations of unstructured observations
there is a risk of demand characteristics as they are aware they are being observed and so they may change their behaviour accordingly
what are structured observations
predetermined list of behavior’s to quantify observations
strength of structured observations
.analysis is easier as the data has been quantified
.it is much more systematic and straightforward
limitation of structured observations
key details may be lost if you reduce observational records to numbers and this reduces the validity
what is behavioral categories
structures what is being observed and that behavior is broken into operationalized behaviors
are there any strengths of behavioral categories
no
what are the limitations of behavioral categories
.categories need to be clear and ambiguous however this can be difficult to make
.all possible forms of the target behavior are included in the checklist
what is observational sampling: timing?
Observations are made at regular intervals (15 seconds)
strength of Observational Sampling: Timing
.Data is more structured and it reduces the amount of observations that have to be made
limitation of Observational Sampling: Timing
.It may be unrepresentative as the researcher may miss important interactions
what is observational sampling: event?
One particular event is focused on (hitting)
strength of Observational Sampling: event
.It may record infrequent behaviour that could be missed if time sampling was used.
limitation of Observational Sampling: event
Complex behaviour may be oversimplified. This affects validity.
