observational research Flashcards
what are naturalistic observations
recording of spontaneously occurring behaviour that takes place in the setting where the behaviour would normally happen, and no variables have been controlled
what do naturalistic observations tend to be
non-participant
covert
do not know they are part of the study
what do structured observations involve
the recording of spontaneously occurring behaviour, but under conditions/environments decided upon by the researcher
in a structured observation, what may happen to avoid missing behaviours
gets recorded
what does it mean if the study is covert
the ppt may know they are being observed but cannot see the observers
what are ppt observations
the researcher both observes members of the group or community being researched and participates
what are two advantages of ppt observations
- meaningful observations as the observers are part of what is going on and can have a better understanding, the data gathered is richer
- High eco validity as people continue business as usual
what are two disadvantages of ppt observations
- Researchers may get too involved in the group and less objective and may influence the natural behaviour of the group which affects the validity
- important ethical issues- deception and invasion of privacy
what are non- participant observations
collects data by observing behaviour without actively interacting with the ppts
two advantages of non-participant observations
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
two disadvantages of non-ppt observation
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
two advantages of covert observations
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
two disadvantages of covert observations
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
two advantages of overt observations
- Ethical issues are low- P’s can give informed consent and can be offered right to withdraw
- a good place to observe from can be chosen and discussed with the P’s
two disadvantages of overt observations
- P’s may not act normally as they know they are being observed, lowers EV and means data may not be generalised
- overt observer may be distracted by Ps and so data recorded may lose some accuracy
reliability Obs Research
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
validity (Obs. research)
whether the system used for recording the behaviour observed allows the researchers to accurately record behaviour
how they interpret the data is subjective
How do they deal with threats to reliability
pilot studies- train observers and practice
how do they deal with threats to validity
operationalised
behaviour checklists must be carefully planned and piloted
using more than one observer in varied settings reduces observer bias
how can we deal with ethical issues in observational research
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
what must categories be in quantitative data collection
mutually exclusive
what is event sampling
recording certain behaviour every time it occurs in a target individual or group of individuals throughout the observation period
one A and one D of event sampling
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
what is time sampling
recording target behaviours for set lengths of time at set intervals
one A and D of time sampling
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
what is a method of behaviour sampling that gains qualitative data?
continuous observation
what is continuous observation
observer records very instance of behaviour
one A and one D of continuous observation
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
