Observational techniques

Question 1

What is a naturalistic observation?

Answer 1

They involve watching and recording behaviour in the setting within which it would normally occur.

Question 2

What is a controlled observation?

Answer 2

They involve watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment.

Question 3

What is a covert observation?

Answer 3

They involve participants’ behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge or consent.

Question 4

What is an overt observation?

Answer 4

They involve participants’ behaviour is watched and recorded with their knowledge and consent.

Question 5

What is a participant observation?

Answer 5

They involve the researcher becoming a member of the group of the person who’s behaviour they are recording

Question 6

What is a non-participant observation?

Answer 6

They involve the researcher remaining outside the group of the person who’s behaviour they are recording.

Question 7

What do observations allow the researcher to do?

Answer 7

They allow the researcher to study observable behaviour within a natural or controlled setting.

Question 8

T / F:

- Observations are a non-experimental method.

Answer 8

True.

Question 9

T / F:

- Observational studies allow researchers to study behaviours within a natural or controlled setting.

Answer 9

True.

Question 10

Which type of observation was Mary Ainsworth’s experiment the Strange Situation?

Answer 10

A controlled observation.

Question 11

Which type of observation take place in a setting or context where the target behaviour would usually occur?

Answer 11

Naturalistic observations.

Question 12

In which type of experiment does the researcher remain seperate from those they are studying?

Answer 12

Non-participant observations.

Question 13

How can you make sure that a covert observation is ethical?

Answer 13

The behaviours observed must be public and happening already.

Question 14

Which type of observation is more likely to produce objective data, participant or non-participant observations?

Answer 14

Non-participant observations because the researcher is distanced from the subject.

Question 15

T / F:

- Naturalistic observations tend to be low in external validity meaning findings cannot be generalised easily.

Answer 15

False - they tend to have high external validity and can be generalised.

Question 16

Which type of observation is this; the observer watchers from across a room or from a balcony?

Answer 16

Covert observation.

Question 17

T / F:

- Naturalistic observations take place in a setting where the target behaviour would not normally occur.

Answer 17

False - They would take place where behaviour would normally occur.

Question 18

T / F:
- Non-participant observations allow the observer to remain more objective but they may lose insight due to being on the periphery.

Answer 18

True.

Question 19

T / F:

- Behaviour may occasionally be recorded without first obtaining the consent of the participants.

Answer 19

True - this is a covert observation.

Question 20

T / F:

- Informed consent is granted for an overt observation.

Answer 20

True.

Question 21

During Ainsworth’s controlled observations, how did she make sure that the baby behaved naturally?

Answer 21

By using a two-way mirror so that she couldn’t be seen by the baby.

Question 22

Which type of observation involves some control over the extraneous variables?

Answer 22

Controlled observations.

Question 23

T / F:

- If the researcher joins in with observation this is called an inclusive observation.

Answer 23

False - this is a participant observation.

Question 24

If you were to study how senior management and employees in a factory interact which types of observation would you use, a naturalistic or controlled observation?

Answer 24

Naturalistic, because it would be illogical to drag a whole workforce into an artificial lab setting rather it would be better to let them interact normally.

Question 25

In which type of observations are all aspects of the environment free to vary?

Answer 25

Naturalistic observations.

Question 26

T / F:

- In controlled observations there is some control over variables including extraneous variables.

Answer 26

True.

Question 27

Which type of observation involves telling the participant they are being observed beforehand and gaining informed consent beforehand?

Answer 27

Overt observations.

Question 28

T / F:

- It is never possible to observe behaviour without gaining prior consent.

Answer 28

False - In covert experiments the participant does not know about it.

Question 29

In which type of observation does the observer become part of the group they are studying?

Answer 29

Participant observations.

Question 30

T / F:

- Covert observations involve participants being unaware they are being studied.

Answer 30

True.

Question 31

Which type of observation gains a ‘first-hand’ account of behaviour?

Answer 31

Participant observations.

Question 32

AO3 - Naturalistic positives.

Answer 32

High external validity as findings can be generalised to everyday life as behaviour is studied in the environment which it would occur in real-life.

Question 33

AO3 - Controlled negatives.

Answer 33

They may produce findings that cannot be as readily applied to real-life situations.

Question 34

AO3 - Covert positives.

Answer 34

Participants are unaware they are being watched which removes the problem of participant reactivity and ensures behaviours will be more authentic, this increases the validity of the observations.

Question 35

AO3 - Overt positives.

Answer 35

The fact that informed consent is gained prior to the study means that the observations are more ethically sound.

Question 36

AO3 - Participant positives.

Answer 36

The research can experience the situation as the participants do; giving them increased insight into the participants decisions, increasing the validity of the findings.

Question 37

AO3 - Naturalistic negatives.

Answer 37

The lack of control means that replication is difficult, the many extraneous variables also make it hard to judge any patterns of behaviour.

Question 38

AO3 - Non-participant positives.

Answer 38

They allow the researcher to maintain an objective distance of and there is less danger of them ‘going native’.

Question 39

AO3 - Overt negatives.

Answer 39

The knowledge that participants are being observed has a massive influence on their behaviour.

Question 40

AO3 - Covert negatives.

Answer 40

The ethics of these observations have been questioned because the participants are unaware they are being studied and may not want their behaviour being recorded.

Question 41

AO3 - Participant negatives.

Answer 41

There is a danger, however, that the researcher may come to identify strongly with those who they are studying and lose objectivity.

Question 42

AO3 - Non-participant negatives.

Answer 42

They may lose valuable insight to be gained in a participant observation as they are too far removed to see the people who’s behaviour they are studying.

Question 43

What is often referred to as ‘going native’?

Answer 43

When the line between being a researcher and a participant becomes blurred.

Question 44

What is often referred to as ‘going native’?

Answer 44

When the line between being a researcher and a participant becomes blurred.