observational designs Flashcards
what are unstructured observational designs
continuous recording of behaviour by researcher- they write everything they see
strength of unstructured observational designs
richness+depth of detail
2 limitations of unstructured observational designs
-observer bias- only records ‘catch the eye’ behaviour
-qualitative data is difficult to analyse+compare
what are structured observational designs
predetermined list of behaviours
3 strengths of structured observational designs
-quantitative data is easier to analyse+compare
-less risk of observer bias
-easier to do- its more systematic
limitation of structured observational designs
hard to get high inter-observer reliability- filling in predetermined lists is subjective
what are time sampling observational designs
recording behaviour in a pre-established timeframe before a study
strength of time sampling observational designs
time efficient- less observations needed
limitation of time sampling observational designs
small amount of data collected makes it unrepresentative of the observation
what is event sampling observational designs
counting how many times a particular behaviour is carried out
strength of event sampling observational designs
good for infrequent behaviour which would be missed in a time-sample
2 limitations of event sampling observational designs
-important details of complex behaviour may be overlooked
-hard to judge the beginning and end of a behaviour
what are behavioural categories
identifiable and measurable categories derived from target behaviours
3 ways on how behavioural categories should be constructed
-should be clear and unambiguous so data is objective and structured
-all forms of target behaviour should be in the categories- can’t have a ‘dustbin category’
-categories should be exclusive+not overlap
what is inter-observer reliability
two or more observers conducting the same observation
each data set is compared to test for strong correlations
how to assess inter-observer reliability 4
-observers should be familiar with the behavioural categories
-observe behaviour at the same time
-compare the data and discuss any differences in interpretations
-analyse data by correlating the observations made
how are behavioural categories useful in observational research (4)
-allow observers to tally observations into pre-established groupings
-provides clear focus for the researcher
-allow for more objective data recording
-provides data that is easier to quantify / analyse
