Observations 🫣 Flashcards
What are observations and why do we use them?
Observations are a qualitative method that allows the researcher to gain primary data.
We use them to observe human behaviour in a ‘natural’ setting. This should provide valid data.
What are the four types of observations?
- Non-participant
- Participant
- Covert
- Overt
What is the Hawthorne Effect?
When an individual or group of people know they are being observed and so change their behaviour, consciously or unconsciously.
— Some researchers choose to use a covert (undercover) observation to stop the Hawthorne Effect.
EVALUATION: Participant Observations
PRACTICAL STRENGTH:
> Research opportunity
— Some social groups are difficult to research, using this method makes it possible to study topics, groups and people who the researcher may not be able to typically access, in their natural environment.
— If the participants are aware (NON-PO) they are being observed, they may refuse to take part.
PRACTICAL WEAKNESS:
> Time consuming / skills and characteristics
— Researchers will require certain skills to integrate with the group so first will need to undergo training, which adds to time.
— It can also take time to build a rapport with the members once the researcher has joined the group, in order to uncover personal information and see them behaving completely naturally.
> ETHICAL STRENGTH:
+ Informed consent
— All authoritative figures are aware of the research & its aims, eliminating any deception - this is particularly important when working around children due to their vulnerability.
> ETHICAL WEAKNESS:
+ Deception
— Covert participant observations can be accused of being dishonest as you are not making participants aware that you are observing them.
— Over participant observations also raise some ethical issues. By participating in the behaviour of the group, the researcher may have to witness or engage in criminal, deviant or inappropriate behaviour.
— They are then tasked with reporting the behaviour and ending their PO or continuing with this ‘guilty knowledge’
> THEORETICAL STRENGTH:
+ Validity and Verstehen
— PO are more likely to reveal a truthful picture because the researcher is able to capture real-life behaviour in action (as it happens).
— A PO also allows verstehen, as it’s a research method which obtains data from the viewpoint of the participant, not the researcher.
> THEORETICAL WEAKNESS:
+ Unrepresentative & Unreliable
— Positivists see POs as fundementally flawed because it is unscientific.
— Being open-minded and subjective research, there is no fixed procedure and standardised system of measurement, so it cannot be replicated.
— Most POs are also ‘one off’ investigations of small social groups that are unlikely to be representative and so generalisations cannot be made from their findings
EVALUATION: Non-Participant Observations
> PRACTICAL STRENGTH:
+ Quick / skills & characteristics
— Time is reduced as the researcher does not need to ‘fit in’ with the group, so as to be become one of them completely.
— This is important if the researcher does not have the physical characteristics of the group being observed.
> PRACTICAL WEAKNESS:
+ Access
— Observing in school settings is limited by the restrictions of the school timetable, holidays, control over access, health and safety legislations - making it difficult for the researcher to complete their research.
— Certain areas, such as the staffroom, may be somewhere that teachers may disclose their true attitudes and this may be out of bounds to observers, so the true attitudes may not be uncovered via observation.
> ETHICAL STRENGTH:
+ Informed consent / no harm
— When completing a non participant observation, the researcher will gain consent from those involved or the gatekeeper to ensure that they are comfortable and willing to be observed.
— This eliminates the ethical issue of deception and provides the right to withdraw.
> ETHICAL WEAKNESS:
+ Deception
— It is very common that the researcher will witness or hear things that could get the pupils or teachers into trouble, some may be illegal eg. pupil stealing from the school.
— What to do with this ‘guilty knowledge’ is an ethical issue.
> THEORETICAL STRENGTH:
+ Reliable
— Non PO can be easily replicated. The researcher can make use of the same categories when studying the same educational topic to acquire similar results.
— This allows for the comparisons to be made from the findings, and generalisations to be made about the educational context, which can then be applied to schools in a wider society.
> THEORETICAL WEAKNESS:
+ Validity / Hawthorne Effect
— The presence of the researcher may change the behaviour of some.
— Participants may become aware they are being watched and change their behaviour and show the behaviour they believe is expected. So the researcher is not observing the ‘truth’.
