observational research

Question 1

what are naturalistic observations

Answer 1

recording of spontaneously occurring behaviour that takes place in the setting where the behaviour would normally happen, and no variables have been controlled

Question 2

what do naturalistic observations tend to be

Answer 2

non-participant
covert
do not know they are part of the study

Question 3

what do structured observations involve

Answer 3

the recording of spontaneously occurring behaviour, but under conditions/environments decided upon by the researcher

Question 4

in a structured observation, what may happen to avoid missing behaviours

Answer 4

gets recorded

Question 5

what does it mean if the study is covert

Answer 5

the ppt may know they are being observed but cannot see the observers

Question 6

what are ppt observations

Answer 6

the researcher both observes members of the group or community being researched and participates

Question 7

what are two advantages of ppt observations

Answer 7

1. meaningful observations as the observers are part of what is going on and can have a better understanding, the data gathered is richer
2. High eco validity as people continue business as usual

Question 8

what are two disadvantages of ppt observations

Answer 8

1. Researchers may get too involved in the group and less objective and may influence the natural behaviour of the group which affects the validity
2. important ethical issues- deception and invasion of privacy

Question 9

what are non- participant observations

Answer 9

collects data by observing behaviour without actively interacting with the ppts

Question 10

two advantages of non-participant observations

Answer 10

accuracy of observations and amount of data collected may be high in comparison- observer has no role and can focus on collection, which increases VALIDITY

objectivity may be higher than in ppt observations as the observer has no stake in the activities being observed

Question 11

two disadvantages of non-ppt observation

Answer 11

the non-participant observer may have little understanding of what is happening and data record lower in validity due to this

ethical issues- invasion of privacy

Question 12

two advantages of covert observations

Answer 12

unaware they are being studied- behaviour is natural- high validity and EV in data

the observer can record data without being concerned of effect on ppt

Question 13

two disadvantages of covert observations

Answer 13

ethical issues raised: no informed consent and no right to withdraw

invasion of privacy- P’s may be distressed is they learn they have been secretly observed

Question 14

two advantages of overt observations

Answer 14

1. Ethical issues are low- P’s can give informed consent and can be offered right to withdraw
2. a good place to observe from can be chosen and discussed with the P’s

Question 15

two disadvantages of overt observations

Answer 15

1. P’s may not act normally as they know they are being observed, lowers EV and means data may not be generalised
2. overt observer may be distracted by Ps and so data recorded may lose some accuracy

Question 16

reliability Obs Research

Answer 16

researcher effects- leads to low inter-observer reliability
observers do not use the method of recording in the same way, so do not always agree

Question 17

validity (Obs. research)

Answer 17

whether the system used for recording the behaviour observed allows the researchers to accurately record behaviour

how they interpret the data is subjective

Question 17

How do they deal with threats to reliability

Answer 17

pilot studies- train observers and practice

Question 18

how do they deal with threats to validity

Answer 18

operationalised
behaviour checklists must be carefully planned and piloted
using more than one observer in varied settings reduces observer bias

Question 19

how can we deal with ethical issues in observational research

Answer 19

debrief ppt afterwards, giving aims of the study and permission to use their data

BPS say only acceptable to observe others without their consent where ppt would expect to be observed by strangers

Question 20

what must categories be in quantitative data collection

Answer 20

mutually exclusive

Question 21

what is event sampling

Answer 21

recording certain behaviour every time it occurs in a target individual or group of individuals throughout the observation period

Question 22

one A and one D of event sampling

Answer 22

A- limits behaviours that need to be observed, reducing chances it will be missed

D- may be difficult to observe all events if there is a large number of people to observe and spread over a large area

Question 23

what is time sampling

Answer 23

recording target behaviours for set lengths of time at set intervals

Question 24

one A and D of time sampling

Answer 24

A- reduces amount of time spent observing- reduce boredom and fatigue so increases their accuracy

D- target behaviour may be missed unless sampling is carefully planned

Question 25

what is a method of behaviour sampling that gains qualitative data?

Answer 25

continuous observation

Question 26

what is continuous observation

Answer 26

observer records very instance of behaviour

Question 27

one A and one D of continuous observation

Answer 27

A- useful if behaviour does not occur very often (so may not be useful if it happens all the time)

D- still very time consuming