Observational Design, Chapter 6, 9 Flashcards
What is behavioural categories?
One important non-experimental method
It is often used within an experiment as a way. for example, of assessing the dependent variable
What is event sampling?
A target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records this event every time it occurs
What is time sampling?
A target individual or group is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame, say, every 60 seconds
What is recommended?
It is recommended that researchers do not conduct observational studies alone. Single observers may miss important details or may only notice events that confirm their opinion or hypothesis. This introduces bias into the research process
How do you make data recording more objective and unbiased?
Observations should be carried out by at least two researchers. Then data from different observers is compared to check for consistency i.e. reliability, and this is called inter-observer reliability
How can you check the inter-observer reliability of a set of observations?
By using the behavioural categories for your observational study.
Pass your list to a friend and ask them to use the list to observe a recording of the sample people for five minutes
What are one of the key influences on the design of any observation?
How the researcher intends to record their data
How do you do inter-observer reliability?
Observers should familiarise themselves with the behavioural categories to be used
They then observe the same behaviour at the same time, perhaps as part of a small-scale pilot study
Observers should compare the data they have recorded and discuss any differences in interpretations
Finally observers should analyse the data from the study. Inter-observer reliability is calculated by correlating each pair of observations made and an overall figure is produced
What is an unstructured observation?
When the researcher writes down everything they see. This tends to produce accounts of behaviour that are rich in detail
When may unstructured observation be used?
This may be appropriate when observations are small in scale and involve few participants
What is an example of an unstructured observation?
Observing interaction between a couple and a therapist within a relationship support counselling session
What are the issues with an unstructured observation?
There may be too much going on in a single observation for the researcher to record it all.
Therefore, it is necessary to simplify the target behaviours that will become the main focus of the investigation using behavioural categories. This then becomes a structured observation
What are the two ways of recording data?
Structured observation and unstructured observation
Why would we use behavioural 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 of behavioral categories
What can we also refer to behavioural categories as?
A behaviour checklist
What are behavioural categories very similar to?
The idea of operationalisation
What should target behaviours be?
Target behaviours to be studied should be precisely defined and made observable and measurable
What is an example of target behaviours being broken down into a set of behavioural categories?
For instance, the target behaviour ‘affection’ may be broken down into observational categories such as hugging, kissing, smiling, holding hands, etc
What must these behavioural categories be?
Each of these behaviours must be observable- there should be no need for interferences to be made, such as ‘being loving’
Two observers might interpret this differently and thus it would not be a reliable category
What are the issues with behavioural categories?
Each of these behaviours must be observable- there should be no need for interferences to be made, such as ‘being loving’
Two observers might interpret this differently and thus it would not be a reliable category
Before the observation begins, what should the researcher ensure they have?
That they have, as far as possible, included all the ways in which target behaviour may occur within their behavioural checklist
What is a key feature of unstructured observations?
Continuous recording of behaviour is a key feature of unstructured observations in which all instances of a target behaviour are recorded
For very complex behaviours, however this method may not be practical or feasible
What are the sampling methods used in structured observations?
The researcher must use a systematic way of sampling their observations
What are the different types of sampling in an observational design?
Event sampling and time sampling
What is event sampling?
This involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour (the event) occurs in a target individual or group
What is an example of event sampling?
For instance, event sampling of dissent at a football match would mean counting the number of times players disagree with the referee
What is time sampling?
Involves recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame
What is an example of time sampling?
For example, 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 our target individual is doing every 30 seconds
What are strengths of structured observations?
Structured observations that involve the use of behavioural categories make the recording of data easier and more systematic. The data produced is likely to be numerical (quantitative data) which means that analysing and comparing the behaviour observed between participants is more straightforward
What are the limitations of unstructured observations?
Unstructured observations tend to produce qualitative data which may be much more difficult to record and analyse
There may be a great risk of observer bias as the objective behavioural categories that are a feature of structured observations are not present here. The researcher may only record those behaviours that ‘catch their eye’ and these may not be the most important or useful
What are the strengths of unstructured observations?
They benefit from more richness and depth of detail in the data collected
What are the strengths of behavioural categories?
They can make data collection more structured and objective, it is important that such categories are all clear and unambiguous as possible
What are the requirements for behavioural categories?
They can make data collection more structured and objective, it is important that such categories are all clear and unambiguous as possible. They must be observable, measurable and self-evident. They should not require further interpretation
Researchers should also ensure that all possible forms of the target behaviour are included in the checklist. There should not be a ‘dustbin category’ in which many different behaviours are deposited
Categories should be exclusive and not overlap. For instance, the difference between ‘smiling’ and ‘grinning’ would be very difficult to discern
What should researchers make ensure about the target behaviours?
Researchers should also ensure that all possible forms of the target behaviour are included in the checklist. There should not be a ‘dustbin category’ in which many different behaviours are deposited
Categories should be exclusive and not overlap. For instance, the difference between ‘smiling’ and ‘grinning’ would be very difficult to discern
When is event sampling useful?
When the target behaviour or event happens quite infrequently and could be missed if time sampling was used
What are the limitations of event sampling?
If the specified event is too complex, the observer may overlook important details. That said, those instances when behaviour is sampled might be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole
How would time sampling be effective?
In reducing the number of observations that have to be made. That said, those instances when behaviour is sampled might be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole
