Observational Design Flashcards
Outline event sampling. What is it?
Focuses only on actions or events that are of particular interest to the researcher.
The researcher will create a table and make a tally, counting the numbers of times that the specific behaviour occurs.
The behaviours are tallied beneath a operationalised behavioural category.
Outline time sampling. What is it?
Focuses on actions or events that are of performed within specified time periods.
This allows the researcher to reduce the tedious nature of the observations.
The researcher will create a table and make a tally, counting the numbers of times that the chosen behaviour occurs within the allocated time.
Outline point sampling. What is it?
One individual is observed, in order to categorise their current behaviour, after which a second individual is observed, and so on.
What are behavioural categories? What must they be?
Observers agree on a grid or coding sheet on which to record the behaviour being studied.
For example, if observers are interested in how age and sex of a car driver effects aggression when driving, they might want to develop behavioural categories such as: horn used, speed limit broken, hand gestures used.
They must be operationalised.
Rather than writing descriptions of behaviour, it’s easier to code behavioural categories using what?
Previously arranged/ agreed scales.
Coding can involve numbers e.g. age of drivers or letters to describe characteristics.
E.g. M = male, T = talking.
You can also rate on a Likert scale.
