Observational techniques

Question 1

What is a naturalistic observation?

Answer 1

Observing behaviour in which the behaviour would usually occur

Question 2

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a naturalistic observation?

Answer 2

Strength:
High ecological validity as behaviour is natural if covert

Weakness:
Lack of control over extraneous variables

Question 3

What are controlled observations?

Answer 3

Observing behaviour in a structured environment with some variable control

Question 4

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a controlled observation?

Answer 4

Strength:
High control over environment meaning the observation is easily replicable

Weakness:
Can cause demand characteristics if participants know they are being observed

Question 5

What is the difference between a covert and overt observation?

Answer 5

Covert: where the participants doesn’t know they are being observed as the researcher is hidden
Overt: where the participants are aware of the observation as the researcher is seen and they have given their consent prior to the observation

Question 6

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a covert an overt observation?

Answer 6

Covert strengths:
High validity as behaviour is natural
Covert weaknesses:
Unethical as there is a lack of consent

Overt strengths:
More ethical as participants are able to give consent
Overt weaknesses:
Lower validity as participants may alter their behaviour if they know they are being observed (demand characteristics)

Question 7

What is participant observation?

Answer 7

Observer is a participant in the activity or group being studied

Question 8

What are the strengths of a participants observation?

Answer 8

Very high ecological validity if observation is cover

Very detailed and in-depth knowledge can be obtained

Question 9

What are the weaknesses of a participant observation?

Answer 9

Difficult to record observations promptly and objectively

Very difficult to replicate

Question 10

What is a non-participant observation?

Answer 10

Observer does not join the group or activities being observed

Question 11

What are the strengths of a non-participant observation?

Answer 11

Maintains objectivity ‘going native’ is less common

Question 12

What are the weaknesses of a non-participant observation?

Answer 12

Lower validity due to less insight and more demand characteristics

Question 13

What are unstructured observations?

Answer 13

Observers simply record record the behaviour they can see (continuous recording)

Question 14

What are the strengths of unstructured observations?

Answer 14

Provides data-rich. qualitative data that gives insight

Question 15

What are the weaknesses of unstructured observations?

Answer 15

Tendency for observers to only notice the most eye-catching behaviours, causing observer bias

Question 16

What is a structured observation?

Answer 16

Observers choose specific behaviour categories to observe and record

Question 17

What are the strengths of a structured observation?

Answer 17

Quantitative data can be statistically analysed

Question 18

What are the weaknesses of a structured observation?

Answer 18

Lacks insight into human behaviour and takes out context of results

Question 19

What are behavioural categories?

Answer 19

Behaviour is categorised to be defined and measurable, usually recording each observation by tallying the categories

Question 20

What is event sampling? What is a strength and weakness?

Answer 20

Taking a tally each time a particular behaviour occurs (behavioural categories) 
Strength:
Useful for infrequent behaviours 
Weakness: 
Difficult if the event is too complex

Question 21

What is time sampling? What is a strength and weakness?

Answer 21

Recording observations at specific time intervals
Strength:
Reduces the number of observations so more manageable
Weakness:
Observed behaviours may not be representative

Question 22

What is inter-observer reliability?

Answer 22

Observations are recorded by two researchers, they then compare results at the ned of the study and discuss and differences in their interpretations.
Aims to reduce observer bias
Measures level of agreement between observers
Measured with a correlation coefficient - 0.8 or more is good
To calculate: total agreements/ total observations