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
overt strength
ethical - participants give consent
overt weakness
increased observer effects
- participants may have socially desirable behsvioir
covert
observations made without participants knowing
covert strength
no socially desirable behavior
participants act more naturally
less socially desirable behavior
increased validity of research
covert weakness
less ethical
no consent
what is the two ways of gathering data
qualitative
quantitative
what is qualitative data
anything that’s written or descriptive
how is qualitative data gathered
asking/ recording participants opinions through non numerical methods
interviews / observations
qualitative strength
more detailed than quantitative
provides context with more complex issues
qualitative weaknesses
more subjective
time consuming
difficult to generalize
what is quantitative data
any data which collects numbers
what are the 3 different methods for gathering quantitative data
- behavioral categories
- event sampling
- time sampling
behavioral categories
- separating continuous stream of actions into behavioral components
- behaviors are counted
behavioral categories example
aggression separated into punches, kicks
event sampling
create a list of behavioral categories then tally every time one of the behaviors occurs
example of event sampling
physical aggression
verbal aggression
time sampling
- observations are recorded at fixed regular intervals of time to not what is happening at that moment
example of time sampling
10 mins , 20 mins, 30 mins
strengths of quantitative
objective
easy to analyze numerical data
reliable
less bias
weaknesses quantitative
oversimplified
only measured quantifiable variables
misleading results if used incorrectly
