observations Flashcards
naturalistic observation
watching and recording behaviour in the setting in which it would occur. All aspects of the environment are free to vary
controlled observation
watching and recording behaviour within a structured environment where the variables are managed
overt observations
participants’ behaviour is watched and recorded, by a clearly visible researcher, with their knowledge and consent
covert observations
participants’ behaviour is watched and recorded, by a not clearly visible researcher, without their knowledge and consent
participant observation
the researcher becomes a member of the group whose behaviour they are watching and recording
non-participant observation
the researcher remains outside of the group whose behaviour they are watching and recording
structured observation
researcher simplifies the target behaviours that will become the main focus of the investigation because there is too much going on in a single observation for the researcher to record it all
unstructured observation
researcher writes down everything they see
behavioural categories
when a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable (operationalisation)
sampling methods
the way in which the researcher records behaviours
continuous sampling
continuous recording of behaviour is a feature of unstructured observations in which all instances of a target behaviour are recorded
time sampling
a target individual or group is first established then the researcher records their behaviour in a fixed time frame (e.g. 60s)
event sampling
a target behaviour or event is first established then the researcher records the event every time it occurs
naturalistic observation strengths/weaknesses
strengths
- high external validity as findings can be generalised
weaknesses
- lack of control over research situation makes replication difficult
- uncontrolled CVs and EVs make it difficult to judge any behaviour pattern
controlled observations strengths/weaknesses
strengths
- CVs/EVs may be less of a factor so replication becomes easier
weaknesses
- findings cannot be readily applied to every day life
overt observations strengths/weaknesses
strengths
- more ethically acceptable than covert observations
weaknesses
- knowledge that they are being observed may act as a significant influence on their behaviour
covert observations strengths/weaknesses
strengths
- removes demand characteristics
- ensures that any behaviour observed is natural
- increased internal validity of data
weaknesses
- ethics are questioned as people may not wish for their behaviours to be written down
participant observation strengths/weaknesses
strengths
- researcher can experience the participants’ situation, giving increased insight into their lives which increases external validity
weaknesses
- danger that the researcher may come to identify too strongly with those they are studying and lose objectivity
non-participant observation strengths/weaknesses
strengths
- researcher maintains objective psychological distance from their participants so less danger of adopting their lifestyle
weaknesses
- may lose valuable insight to be gained in a participant observation as they are too far removed from the people they are studying
structured observation strengths/weaknesses
strengths
- recording data is easier and more systematic
- data produced is likely to be numerical so analysing and comparing behaviour observed is easier
weaknesses
- data is not in depth so important details may be missed
- gives restricted views of what is actually happening
unstructured observation strengths/weaknesses
strengths
- more richness and depth in the data collected
weaknesses
- data produced is qualitative which may be more difficult to record and analyse
- greater risk of observer bias
what is inter-rater reliability
- 2 observers create behavioural categories separately
- they get together and compare categories
- they can only use the ones they agree on
- they do the whole observation separately but at the same time and using the same behavioural categories (so they dont influence each other)
- they get together at the end and compare their results through a statistical test
- if the correlation is strong and positive (+0.8 +) they are reliable
strengths of observations over self-report techniques
- allows us to see people’s actual behaviour rather than what they say they will do
- younger participants may be unable to express themselves fully in self-report techniques
- participants may become disengaged with the self-report techniques e.g. boredom
strengths of self-report techniques over observations
- the participant has a greater insight into their thoughts and feelings than the researcher therefore getting them to report their thoughts is more effective than observing them
