observational design Flashcards
what is observational design
observation design is the way a observer may choose to record the behaviour shown by participants
what is an unstructured observation
researchers may simply want to write down everything they see.
This is referred as an unstructured observation and tends to produce behaviour rich in detail
e.g. this method may be appropriate when observing interaction between a couple and therapist within a marriage counselling session
what is a structured observation
there may be too much going on in a singe observation to record, therefore, it is easier to simplify the target behaviors that will become the main focus of the investigation
e.g. if the target behavior was “aggression” and the setting was a school playground, the specifics acts (verbal or physical) that make up the target behaviour would need to be clearly defined
structured observations allow the researcher to quantify their observations using pre- determined list of behaviours and sampling methods
what are behaviour categories
in order to produce a structured record of what a researcher sees ( or hears), it is first necessary to break the target behaviour up into a set behavioural categories
This idea is similar to operationalisation
what is an example of behavioural categories
target behaviours should be precisely defined and make observable and measurable
e.g. target behavior : affection can broken up into observational categories
- hugging
- kissing
- smiling
- holding hands
these behaviours must be observable - there should be no need for inference
before the observation begins, researchers should ensure they have all the ways in which the target behaviour may occur within their behavioural checklist
what are sampling methods
a systematic way of sampling their observation
sampling in this context is different to e.g. random sampling
what is event sampling
event sampling involves the number of times a particular behaviour ( the event) occurs in a target individual or groups
e.g. event sampling of dissent are a football match would mean counting the number of times players disagree with the referee
what is time sampling
time sampling involves recording behavior within a pre - established time frame
e.g. in a particular football match we may only be interested in one specific player so we may make a note ( using a behavioural checklist) of what a target individual does every 30 s
what is a strength of a structured observation
- structural observation that involve the use of behvioural categories make recording of data easier and more systematic
- the data produced is likely to be numeral, which means that analysing and comparing the behaviour observed between participants is more straightforward
what is a limitation of a unstructured observation
unstructured observations produces qualitative data which is more difficult to record and anlayse
- there is more risk of observer bias as the researcher may only record behviours that “catch their eye” and these may not be the most important/useful behaviours
what is a strength of unstructured procedures
unstructured observations benefit from more richness and depth of detail in the data collected
what is a limitation of a behavioural categories
although the use of behavioural categories can make data collection more structured and objective, it is important such categories are clear and unambiguous which must be observable, measurable and self evident
- the researcher should ensure that all possible forms of the target behavior are included in the checklist and their is no overlap
e. g. the difference between smiling and grinning would be hard to discern
what are the decisions to make when carrying out an observation
setting - controlled or naturalistic
observer’s status - covert or overt
observer’s involvement - participant or non participant
sampling method - continuous, time or event sampling
we must decide how the DV will be recorded:
structured or unstructured observation
fully operationalise the DV into behavioral categories and create behavioral checklists to record frequency of observations
