Observational Techniques

Question 1

What is an Observation an what are the Strengths and Weaknesses?

Answer 1

• a way of observing how people behave
• Capturing what people actually do, people do not often act the way they say they would
• Limitation is observer bias, observers interpretation of situation may be affected by their expectations
• Another limitation is observational studies cannot demonstrate causal relationships
• though observational techniques may be used in experiments and aid in detecting cause-and-effect relationships

Question 2

What is not possible in an observation?

Answer 2

• It is not possible to establish cause and effect in an observation

Question 3

What are covert and overt observations?

Answer 3

Covert - pps is unaware/ have not given consent to be watched
Overt - Telling them they are being watched

Question 4

What are the strengths/weaknesses of covert and overt observations?

Answer 4

Covert:
- Removes problem of demand charecteristics, observed behaviour is natural, increses internal validity
- Ethics are questioned as informed consent cannot be given and right to privacy
Overt:
- More ethically acceptable
- Knowledge pps have that they are being observed may act as a significant influence on their behaviour

Question 5

What are the differences between naturalistic and controlled observations?

Answer 5

Naturalistic:
- Naturalistic have high external validity
- Lack of control makes replication difficult. Also many extreaneous/confounding variables
Controlled:
- Produce findings that cannot be applied to everyday life
Confounding/extraneous may be less of factor so replication is easier

Question 6

What is the difference between pps and non pps observations?

Answer 6

• Researcher may opt to be part of the group they are observing (pps)
• Or watch from sidelines instead (non pps)

Question 7

What are the evaluative points of pps/ non pps observations?

Answer 7

Pps observation:
- Increased insight for researcher - increase external validity
- Danger of identifying too strongly and loose objectivity. ‘adopting a local lifestyle’
Non-pps:
- Allow researcher to maintain objective psychological distance from their pps less danger of adopting a local lifestyle
- May loose the valuable insight to be gained in a pps observation as they are too far removed from people/behaviour they are studying