observational design

Question 1

What is unstructured sampling

Answer 1

A type of observation where every instance of a behaviour is recorded in as much detail as possible
- interested in a limited set of behaviours which allows the to quantify the observed behaviours

Question 2

What is structured sampling

Answer 2

A type of observation where the researcher uses various systems to organise observations

Question 3

define the term behavioural categories

Answer 3

when a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable - operationalised behaviours that the observer is looking for must reflect what is being studied

Question 4

What is behaviour checklist

Answer 4

What is behaviour checklist

Question 5

What is event sampling

Answer 5

When the researcher records the number of times a particular behaviour or event occurs in a target individual or group

Question 6

What is time sampling

Answer 6

When the researcher records behaviour within a pre determined time frame

Question 7

What is inter-observer reliability

Answer 7

The extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved in observations of a behaviour. If correlation between two observers is more than 0.8 then it has high inter observer reliability

Question 8

What is quantitive data

Answer 8

Data that can be counted

Question 9

What is qualitative data

Answer 9

Data that is expressed in words

Question 10

What is observer bias

Answer 10

When observers expectations affect what they see or hear, reduced validity of observation

Question 11

why must behavioural categories be operationalised ?

Answer 11

The behaviour categories have to be operationalised to make sure they are specific and the behaviour that is recorded cannot be confused with anything else other than what we are looking for
For example: ‘Aggressive behaviour’ is too vague: What constitutes as aggressive? Is shouting as aggressive as punching?We should create specific categories from this. E.g.: ‘punching’ ‘kicking’ ‘pushing’ These three examples are much more specific and aren’t easily confused with each other, which makes recording and analysing them also much easier

Question 12

pros of time sampling

Answer 12

• time sampling allows the researcher flexibility to record behaviour and has the opportunity to record unexpected behaviours

Question 13

cons of time sampling

Answer 13

• it can also mean that observers miss behaviours that do not happen within the set time
• unrepresentative

Question 14

cons of event sampling

Answer 14

however behaviours that are not on the categories list are not recorded, which means relevant behaviours could be missed over look important behaviours

Question 14

pros of event sampling

Answer 14

useful when even happens quite infrequently and could be missed if time sampling is used

Question 15

how to improve inter-observe reliability

Answer 15

• train observers to use your system
• the 2 observers should work independently and use the same behavioural categories
• compare results by doing a correlation analysis
  condition a good/ high level of inter-rater reliability, it must pass a threshold of +0.8 or 80% correlation / consistently

Question 16

pros of structured observations

Answer 16

using quantitive data is a quick and easy method which can be present visually in graphical form and it can show trends and frequencies of behaviour across a large sample which leads to reliable data
- using predetermined categories means that the researcher is not likely to become distracted or unfocused which means that they can ignore any behaviours that do not align with the behavioural categories decided on - relevant to the aim

Question 17

cons of structured observation

Answer 17

• quantitive data can shed light on what was observed but nit on why that behavioural occurred - lack explanatory power
• using pre-determined categories means that the researcher is unable to include any behaviours which may be interesting and highly relevant to the study which limits the usefulness of the structured observations

Question 18

pros of unstructured interviews

Answer 18

• allows researcher to gain rich, insightful data full of depth and detail and the recorded data is likely to be highly subjective and personal increasing the ecological validity
• by focusing the unique experiences, opinions and personal journey of a pp is a good method to use when doing a case study - increasing validity

Question 19

cons of unstructured interviews

Answer 19

• due to highly personal and subjective nature of unstructured observation, the researcher may lose their sense of objectivity and become too close to the pps
• may use confirmation bias and analysing their records and overlook some important detail which makes the findings unreliable due to a lack of objectivity
• analysing data is time-consuming