Observational technique Flashcards
What is an observation
Researchers observe behaviour in a certain situation(more natural than an experiment)
What is a naturalistic observation
Behaviour is studied in 100% natural setting
What is a controlled observation
Some variables are regulated by the researcher
What is an overt observation
Participants know they are being observed (can be controlled or naturalistic)
What is a covert observation
Participants don’t know they are being observed (can be naturalistic or controlled)
What is a participant observation
Observer takes part in study (can be overt or covert)
What is a non participant observation
Observer just watches
Advantages/disadvantages of naturalistic observation
Advantages:
High ecological validity
Disadvantages:
Extraneous variables
Less reliable - not standardised
Advantages/disadvantages of controlled observation
Advantages:
Less extraneous variables
Reliable - Standardised
Disadvantages:
Low ecological validity
Advantages/disadvantages of overt observation
Advantages:
No ethical issues
Disadvantages:
Demand characteristics
Investigator effects
Advantages/disadvantages of covert observations
Advantages:
High internal validity due to less demand characteristics and investigator effects
Disadvantages:
Ethical issues
Advantages/disadvantages of participant observations
Advantages:
Qualitative data
Disadvantages:
Demand characteristics when overt
No informed consent when covert
Advantages/disadvantages of non participant observations
Advantages:
Less investigator effects and demand characteristics
Disadvantages:
Missed behaviours leads to less understanding
What do behavioural categories do
Makes data collection objective
What are structured observations/Advantages and disadvantages
Researcher uses behavioural categories to look for specific behaviours and records them in a tally
Advantages:
Quantitative data is easy to analyse
Disadvantages:
Less detailed
What are unstructured observations/advantages and disadvantages
All behaviour is recorded through any method
Advantages:
Detailed qualitative data
Disadvantages:
Difficult to analyse
What is time sampling/advantages and disadvantages
Behaviour is recorded using a time frame e.g. every 10 seconds
Advantages:
Reduces number of observations needed
Disadvantages:
Can be unrepresentative
What is event sampling/advantages and disadvantages
Count number of times an event happens
Advantages:
Event could be missed with time sampling
Disadvantages:
If event is too complicated, details could be missed
What is inter observer reliability
1 observer may miss details leading to observer bias
2 observers are used to prevent this/confirm data
How do you calculate inter observer reliability
Both observers agree on behavioural categories beforehand(give example)
Observations occur separately
Observers return to each other and compare results
Consistency/agreement of both observers data must be 80% or above
