Observations Flashcards
What is non participant observation
- observing the participants without actively participating or interacting
-merely watching or listening
What is Participant observation
- ## the observer is part of the group being observed and is immersed in the day to day activities
Strengths and weaknesses of non participant observation
+ observers are more likely to be objective as they aren’t part of the group
- observers may not gain as much of in depth information
Strengths and weaknesses of participant observation
+ researcher can get in depth data as they are close to the participants, therefore it’s unlikely to miss any behaviour
- pts observations are more likely to be overt as pts know they are being observed leading to social desirability (seen in a better light) or demand characteristics (fit in with the expectations)
C- if covert, the research lacks consent and privacy which leads to ethical issues
What is time sampling
- recording behaviour within a pre established time frame
What is event sampling
Observing a particular behaviour and recording it every time it occurs
Strength and weakness of structured observation
+easy to test for reliability
+the data is easy to analyse because its quantitative
-spontaneous behaviour that hasn’t been observed can’t be noted down
-so internal validity is decreased
Strength and weaknesses of unstructured observations
+more richness and in depth of detail in data is collected
+ high internal validity
-time consuming to analyse
- therefore increasing observer bias
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Step by step instructions for inter- observer reliability
- observer must familiarise themselves with the behavioural categories
- they observe the same behaviours at the same time in a small scale pilot study
- they must compare the data and discuss any differences
- conduct the observation
- analyse data and calculate inter observer reliability each pair of observations
