observational design Flashcards
inter observer reliability description
single observes may miss important details or only notice events that confirm their opinions in their hypothesis
introduces bias to the research process
to make ecording stat more objective and unbiased observations should be carried out by two researchers
data from different observes is compared to check for consistency
how to do inter- observer reliability
observers should familiarise themselves with the behavioural catergories to be used
then observe the same behaviour at the same time maybe in a pilot study
then they compare the data they have recorder
then they should analyse the data from the study and inter observe reliability is calculated by correlating each pair of observations made and an overall figure is produced
issues in observational design - ways of recording data
unstructured observation
simply want to write everything they see
produces accounts of behaviour that are rich in detail
may be appropriate when observations are small in scale and involve few partisans
issues in observational design - ways of recording data
structured observation
may be too much going on in a single observation
necessary to simplify the target behaviours that will become the main focus of the investigation using behavioural categories
behavioural categories
break the target behaviour up into a set of behavioural categories
need to be reliable categories so that two observers don’t interpret the study differently
before the observation begins the researcher should ensure that they have included all the ways in which the target behaviour may occur in their behaviour checklist
sampling methods - continuous recording of behaviour
key feature of unstructured observations
all instances of target behaviour are recorded
in structured observations - researcher must use a systematic way of sampling
event sampling
involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour occurs in a target individual or group
time sampling
recording behaviour within pre established time frame
strength of structured vs unstructred
structured observations that involve the use of behavioural categories make recording the data easier and more systematic
data produced is likely to be numberical
means analysing and comparing the behaviour observed is astir
in contrast unstructred observations tend to produce more qualitative data which may be more difficult to record and analyse
limitation of structured vs unstructred
unstructured observations benefit form more richness and depth in detail
though there may be a bigger risk of observer bias with unstructred observations as the objective categories that are a feature of sturucted are not present
strength of behavioural categories
can make data collection more structured and objective
but the categories need to be as clear as possible must be observable measurebale and self evident
strength of sampling methods
event sampling is useful when the target behaviour or event happens quite infrequent;you and could be missed if time sampling is used
strength of sampling
effective in reducing the number of observations that have to be made
