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Psych P2 4.2.3 Research Methods (Scientific processes) > Observations > Flashcards

Observations Flashcards

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1
Q

What are the 6 types of observations that you need to be aware of?

A
  • Naturalistic OR controlled
  • Covert OR Overt
  • Participant OR Non-participant
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2
Q

NATURALISTIC Observations:

A
  • Take place in a natural real life environment
  • No control over any aspect of the study
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3
Q

Strength of Naturalistic Observations:

A

+ High ecological validity: ppts are in a natural, real-life setting and thus behaviour displayed is also natural -> can be applied to real life behaviour

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4
Q

Weakness of Naturalistic Observations:

A
  • No control: Researcher cannot establish standardised procedure - thus observation cannot be replicable, which decreases reliability
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5
Q

CONTROLLED Observations:

A
  • Artificial environment
  • Aspects of the environment may be controlled in order to observe a phenomenom and reduce extraneous variables
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6
Q

Strength of CONTROLLED Observations:

A

+ High levels of control: researcher can establish standardised procedure - can be replicated to check for consistency which increases reliability

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7
Q

Weakness of CONTROLLED Observations:

A
  • Low ecological validity: ppts behaviour is based on an artificially created environment and thus may be unnatural -> cannot be applied to everyday behaviour
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8
Q

COVERT Observations:

A

Ppts do not know they are being observed

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9
Q

Strength of COVERT Observations:

A

+ Demand characteristics will not occur as ppts are not aware that they are being observed - more likely to display natural behaviour so observation increases in validity

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10
Q

Weakness of COVERT Observations:

A
  • Ethical concerns - ppt unaware they are being observed as they have not provided informed consent and breaks ethical guidelines
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11
Q

OVERT Observations:

A

Ppts are aware that they are being observed

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12
Q

Strength of OVERT Observations:

A

+ More ethical than covert as ppts know they are being observed and thus can provide informed consent

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13
Q

Weakness of OVERT Observations:

A
  • As ppt are aware that they are being watched - likely to change their behaviour to meet the aims of the investigation or please the researcher. Behaviour displayed unnaturally decreases in validity
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14
Q

PARTICIPANT Observations:

A

The researcher partakes in the observation alongside the ppts

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15
Q

Strength of PARTICIPANT Observations:

A

+ Gain better insight as researcher understands the reasons for even subtle interactions and behaviours amongst ppts

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16
Q

Weaknesses of PARTICIPANT Observations:

A
  • May miss out on information whilst participating, decrease validity of findings
  • Being part of ppt group may lead to researcher forming bond with ppt - researcher may have subjective interpretations of ppt behaviour - less valid data
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17
Q

NON-PARTICIPANT Observations:

A

Researcher does not partake in tasks alongside the ppts, just records information without directly participating

18
Q

Strengths of NON-PARTICIPANT Observations:

A

+ Observer will not miss out on information as they are not participating - thus having a good vantage point
+ Researcher is able to closely monitor ppts and record and interpret data in an objective way, increasing validity of findings

19
Q

Weakness of NON-PARTICIPANT Observations:

A
  • Researcher does not acquire indepth insight compared to ppt observation bc researcher is only watching and may miss reasons why they choose to act in a certain way.
20
Q

Strength of observations in general:

A

+ No social desireability compared to interviews/ questionnaires as researcher is not directly interacting with participants

21
Q

Limitation of observations in general:

A
  • Lacks validity as researcher is unable to determine reasoning why the behaviour occurs
22
Q

State the 2 ways an observation can be recorded:

A

Structured or unstructured

23
Q

What are unstructured observations:

A
  • No specific catagories
  • Researcher simply notes down behaviour in rich detail
  • Obtains qualitive data
24
Q

What are two strengths of UNstructured observations:

A

+ More indepth - ppt behaviour described in detail, understanding in depth
+ All relevent behaviour can be noted as researcher is not restricted by the predetermined catagory

25
Q

What is a weakness of UNstructured observations:

A
  • No quantitive data, conclusions are subjective
26
Q

What are structured observations:

A

Involve deciding on pre-determined behavioural catagories and a recording scheme before beginning an observation
- When ppt performs action, records in catagories
- obtains quantitive data
+ - -

27
Q

What is a strength of structured observations:

A

+ Generates quantitive data - thus easier to analyse which can be used to draw objective conclusions

28
Q

What are two weaknesses of structured observations:

A
  • Limited depth of understanding, only measures instances of behaviour + doesnt provide insight into the behaviour itself
  • If researcher sees action relevent to the target behaviour, but has no behaviour catagory for it, the behaviour must be ignored
29
Q

What are behavioural categories?

A

Specific actions which help measure a target behaviour in observation e.g. aggression, punching, biting

30
Q

What is operationalisation of behavioural catagories?

A

It is required to break up the main behaviour being studied into a set of components: E.g aggression can be divided into verbal (swear, shout etc) and phsyical (punch, kick etc.)

31
Q

What should good behavioural catagories be like?

A
  • Objective
  • Easily countable
  • Specific - no overlap
32
Q

What are observation sampling procedures in an UNSTRUCTURED observation?

A

Continous observation is used where every detail of behaviour is recorded

33
Q

What are observation sampling procedures in a STRUCTURED observation?

A

Once the behavioural catagories have been determined, there are different ways to record data
1. event sampling
2. time sampling

34
Q

How is event sampling done?

A
  1. list of behaviour catagories related to the target behaviour are established
  2. Once observation starts, researcher records every time an action related to a catagory occurs within ppts -> continues until end of observation
35
Q

Advantage of event sampling:

A

+ Don’t miss any occurences of behaviour as ppts are observed the whole time

36
Q

Disadvantages of event sampling:

A
  • Possible to miss behaviour - researchers need to be vigilant at all times
  • Does not help measure longer on going behaviour
37
Q

How is time sampling done?

A
  1. Researcher decides duration of observation (apply)
  2. Researcher splits up whole duration of observation into intervals
  3. On the stroke of every interval, researcher observes ppt and records behaviour occuring in that moment
  4. Researcher continues until all predetermined intervals are recorded
38
Q

Advantages of time sampling:

A

+ Easier to do than event sampling as researcher only focuses on the observation on the interval, not the whole time
+ Can help measure behaviour that occurs over longer time period

39
Q

Disadvantage of time sampling:

A
  • If behaviours start/stop between intervals they will be missed
40
Q

Defenition of inter-observer reliability?

A

When they are similar/consistent results within 2 observers

41
Q

HOW to ensure inter-observer reliability?

A
  1. get two observers + give them the same behaviour catagories
  2. both observers should independently observe the same ppts for the same duration in the same time and location
  3. conduct spearmans rho-corretional analysis where 1 variable is the score from first observer and 2nd variable is the score from 2nd observer
  4. if there is a strong positive correlation with a coefficient of 0.8 or more the test is seen to have inter- observer reliability
42
Q

How to IMPROVE inter-observer reliability?

A

1) BEHAVIOUR CATAGORIES:
- ensure both observers agree with interpretation of each catagory - can be done through prior discussion + training on behaviour interpretation
- ensure each catagory is clear and cannot be misinterpreted or overlap with another catagory
2) TRAINING:
- ensure observers are trained in observing so they do not miss out on behaviour - can be done by having them practise beforehand using video clips of target behaviour + giving them feedback on observing better

Psych P2 4.2.3 Research Methods (Scientific processes) (13 decks)

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