Observations

Question 1

Naturalistic

Answer 1

Watching and recording behaviour in the setting within which it would normally occur.

Question 2

Controlled

Answer 2

Watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment

Question 3

Covert

Answer 3

Participants behaviour is watched and recorded without their knowledge or consent

Question 4

Overt

Answer 4

Behaviour is watched and recorded with knowledge and consent

Question 5

Participant

Answer 5

The researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour he/she is watching

Question 6

Non participant

Answer 6

Researcher remains outside of the group whose behaviour is being watched

Question 7

Unstructured observations

Answer 7

If the researcher is writing down everything that they see it is an unstructured observation.
• This is appropriate to do when the observation is in a small scale and involves few participants

Unstructured observations produce qualitative data (more difficult to analyse, but richer and more in depth data)
However, an unstructured observation is more prone to bias because researchers may only record those behaviours that ‘catch their eye’ and these may not be the most important of useful.

Question 8

Structured observations

Answer 8

• A structured observation might be used because there is too much going on for the researcher to record everything.
• Structured observations allow the researcher to quantify their observations.
• They produce numerical/quantitative data – this is more straightforward to analyse

Question 9

Observer bias

Answer 9

when observers’ expectations impact what they see or hear.
This reduces the validity of the observations.

Question 10

Behavioural categories

Answer 10

Target behaviour = The behaviour that is the main focus of the observation.
• The target behaviour must be clearly defined before an observation.
• Researchers quantify their observations using a pre-determined list of
behaviours and sampling methods.
• Target behaviours have to be put into behavioural categories/behavioural checklists.

Question 11

Behavioural categories

Answer 11

Behavioural categories makes the data collection more structured and objective.
• It is important that behavioural categories are clear and unambiguous so that they do not require further interpretation by the researcher as this will be different for each person.

Question 12

Behavioural categories

Answer 12

A “dustbin category” = A category where may different behaviours are “deposited” because they do not have their own behavioural category.
• There should not be one of these in a behavioural checklist because it means the researcher is not actually observing what they want to and have not created appropriate behavioural categories.
• Behavioural categories should not overlap because then you do not know which category a behaviour belongs to.
• If the behavioural categories are not clearly defined, two observers might interpret it differently which would make it not reliable!
• Before the observation begins, the researcher should ensure they have, as far as possible, included all the ways in which the target behaviour may occur within the behavioural checklist.

Question 13

Sampling methods

Answer 13

1. Event sampling
2. Time sampling

Question 14

Event sampling

Answer 14

A target behaviour or event is established, and the researcher records this event every time it occurs.
• It is appropriate to use event sampling when the target behaviour or even happens quite infrequently.
• It would not be appropriate to use event sampling if the event is too complex as the observer may overlook important details.
• Event sampling would tend to use a tally chart to record the data.

Question 15

Time sampling

Answer 15

A target individual or group is observed, and the researchers records their behaviour in a fixed time frame e.g. every minute for 10 minutes to get 10 observations.
• Time sampling is appropriate to use when there are lots of people to observe.
• An issue which might occur with time sampling is important behaviours may be missed if they do not occur at that set time interval.

Question 16

Inter observer reliability

Answer 16

It is not advised to use a single observer because single observers may miss important details or may only notice events that confirm their opinions or hypothesis. This introduces bias into the research process.
• There should be 2 or more observers!
• Inter-observer reliability = The extent to which there is agreement
between two or more observers involve in observations of a behaviour.
• This is measured by correlating the observations of two or more observers.

Question 17

Inter observer reliability

Answer 17

Inter-observer reliability should make data more objective and unbiased.
• The 2 (or more) observers should have if taking part in the same training before the observation to ensure that they are interpreting behavioural categories in the same way.

Question 18

Inter observer reliability

Answer 18

1. Observers should familiarise themselves with the behavioural categories to be used
2. A pilot study (mini test study) should be complete to allow the observers a chance to practice using the behavioural categories, so that any changes can be made if the categories do not work.
3. After the observation of the study, the observations of two or more observers should be correlated to check for reliability
4. A positive correlation of above +.80 would deem the observations to be reliable