Observations

Question 1

What are observations

Answer 1

• provide a psychologist with a way of seeing what people do without having to ask them
• allow researchers to study observable behaviour within a natural/controlled setting
• allows researcher to study more complex interactions between variables in a more natural way

Question 2

Types of observations - naturalistic/controlled

Answer 2

Naturalistic -
- observed in their everyday natural setting
- target behaviour is naturally occurring
✅ high external validity as findings can be generalised to everyday life
❌ lack of control over situation making replication difficult
❌ may be uncontrolled extraneous variable

Controlled -
- observations take place where some variables are controlled and manipulated by the experimenter
✅ extraneous variables are less of a factor therefore replication is easier
❌ findings cannot be readily applied to real life settings

Question 3

Types of observations - covert/overt

Answer 3

Covert -
- type of observational study where the participants are not fully aware they are being studied
- behaviour must be public and happening anyway to be ethical
✅ particants don’t know they are being watched so removed participant reactivity and ensures behaviour is natural increasing validity
❌ ethics may be questioned as people in public may not wish so have their behaviours noted down

Overt -
- observer in view of participants and are aware they are being observed
- have given informed consent
✅ more ethically acceptable
❌ know they are being observed so may have a significant influence in their behaviour

Question 4

Types of observations - participant/non-participant

Answer 4

Participant -
- researcher also a participant in activity they are observing
✅ researcher can experience the situation as participants do giving them increased insight into lives of people being studied increasing validity
❌ danger researcher may come to identify too strongly with those they are studying and lose objectivity

Non-participant -
- researcher does not join in
- records behaviour in a more objective manner
✅ allows researcher to maintain an objective psychological distance
❌ As the researcher is apart from what they are observing it is possible that they could misinterpret some behaviours

Question 5

Observational design - structured

Answer 5

• observing a few specific, clearly defined behaviours eg dropping litter or using a bin etc
• large samples in busy environments where many different behaviours are likely to occur
• emphasis on quantitative behaviour
  ✅ quantitative data quick to analyse
  ✅ using predetermined categories means researcher cannot become unfocused
  ❌ doesn’t sat why it occurred
  ❌ using predetermined means unable to include other relevant things limiting how useful

Question 6

Observational design - unstructured

Answer 6

• researcher writing down everything they see
• small scale observations involving a few participants
• emphasis on qualitative
  ✅ in detail, highly subjective data high in ecological validity
  ✅ focuses in unique experiences so good to use in case studies
  ❌ analysing data is time consuming

Question 7

Observational design - behavioural categories

Answer 7

• Target behaviour should be precisely defined and made observable and measurable e.g. target behaviour of affection may be broken down into hugging, kissing, holding hands etc
  ✅ using clearly to find categories enables researcher to achieve an objective view of what is being observed
  ✅ use of more than one observer should ensure inter observer reliability
  ❌ predetermined categories may be limiting meaning research is not truly represent what occurred lowering validity

Question 8

Observational design - sampling methods: event sampling

Answer 8

• involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour (the event) occurs in a target population
  ✅ your specific behaviours won’t be overlooked
  ❌ if too many of the specific behaviours occur at once it is too difficult to capture them all limiting validity

Question 9

Observational design - sampling methods: time sampling

Answer 9

• Record all behaviour during a set timeframe at a set point e.g. every three hours for 15 minutes
  ✅ reduces number of observations needing to be made
  ✅ offers researchers flexibility in what they record
  ❌ can miss any behaviour occur outside set timeframe limiting validity

Question 10

Inter-observer reliability

Answer 10

• using two or more researchers helps to reduce bias however these researchers must be consistent in their observations
• Use it to compare the ratings of two or more observers and check for agreement in measurements
• Refers to extent of which different observers are able to observe and write the same behaviour in the same way
• Observers must be trained to establish inter-observer reliability: observer should familiarise themselves with their behavioural categories and ensure fully operationalised, observed behaviour at the same time, compare their data and discuss any differences etc