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