Observations Flashcards
what is a participant observation
the observer is a participant in the behavior being observed
give an example of a participant observation
being in a bus stop que and observing behavior in the que
give a strength of participant observation
you can observe behaviors and actions you can’t see from afar
participant observation weaknesses
more time consuming
difficult to record data
researchers presence can cause bias in behavior
what is a non participant observation
the observer is not a participant in the behavior being observed
give an example of non participant
observing behavior in the queue at the bus stop from over the road
strength of non participant
- researchers maintain objective view
- more natural setting - observed natural state without researchers influence
- observers can focus on observation as they have no other role to play
- easier to record data
- can carry out time sampling and event sampling and tallying more systematically
give a weakness of non participant
observer may not be able to record everything
observer effects if overt
what is a structured / controlled experiment
some variables are manipulated or changed by researcher
structured strength
- less extraneous variables which could affect internal validity
- standardized and easy to repeat
structured weakness
lacks ecological validity
naturalistic
no manipulation by researcher everything is left as it should be
naturalistic strength
high ecological validity
see people’s natural behsvooir
naturalistic weakness
isn’t as well controlled as
harder to avoid extraneous variables
overt
participants are aware they’re being observed