Observational design Flashcards
How might psychologists record data if they want qualitative data?
Make notes
Film behaviour then two observers can watch it and compare notes
How might psychologists record data if they want quantitative data?
Think about how to categorise, rate and sample the observed behaviour
May use more than one observer watching the same person so that there is inter-observer reliability
What is categorising behaviour?
They need to define what behaviours they wish to observe
What needs to be done when categorising behaviour?
Care must be taken when operationalising key concepts that things are not missed out as this would affect the validity of the data
What is rating behaviour?
The behaviours that the psychologist may be interested in may be things that are a matter of degree so they need to use a rating scale to classify the behaviour. The psychologists would need to plan what kind of behaviour are included for each level of rating or coding system
What is used for rating behaviour?
A scale
Coding system from 1-10
What does the psychologists need to decide about sampling behaviour?
How often and for how long they are going to observe RPS for
What are the two types of sampling behaviour?
Event
Time
What is event sampling?
The psychologists only record particular behaviours that they are interested in and ignore all other behaviours
What is the strength of event sampling?
Gives the psychologist a real focus
What is a limitation of event sampling?
potentially interesting behaviours are ignored
What is time interval sampling?
When the psychologist records all behaviours within a pre-decided time frame, for example for the first 2 mins of every 10 minute block
What is a strength of time interval sampling?
All behaviour seen in this interval are recorded
What is a limitation of time interval sampling?
Any interesting behaviours observed outside of this time frame are ignored
