Observational technique

Question 1

What are the types of observation?

Answer 1

naturalistic and controlled
covert and overt
participant and non participant

Question 2

What are the advantages and disadvantages of naturalistic and controlled observations?

Answer 2

Naturalistic have high external validity but are difficult to replicate and extraneous variables are hard to control.
Controlled experiments are easy to replicate and you can control extraneous variables easily but the results may not reflect real life.

Question 3

What are the advantages and disadvantages of covert and overt observations?

Answer 3

Overt observations don’t have ethical issues as they can give informed consent but the participants will also show demand characteristics.
Covert observations won’t have demand characteristics but there will be ethical issues.

Question 4

What are the advantages and disadvantages of participant and non participant observations?

Answer 4

Participant observations allow the stituatipn to be experiences and can increase validity. However, the researcher may lose objectivity.
Non-participant observations maintain a distance so the experimenter can’t become a participant but they will lose insight.