Observations in Child Psychology Flashcards
What is an observation as a research method?
Observation as a research method does not involve the direct manipulation of the independent variable; rather the researcher simply watches the behaviour of participants. Observations fall into two broad categories -structured and naturalistic.
What is a naturalistic observation?
Naturalistic observation involves observing the behaviour of participants within their own environment.
The situation has not been created by the researcher and so allows them to gain a real insight into a person’s behaviour
How did Ainsworth use naturalistic observations? (how, strength of, weakness of, ethics)
Ainsworth used naturalistic observations in Uganda to test out her Strange Situation hypothesis.
The benefit of a naturalistic observation is that it is carried out in the person’s own environment, which is familiar to them and should, therefore, make the observations more valid.
Naturalistic observations can, however, have issues with reliability. They take place in the participants’ natural setting which can make it harder to replicate them.
Ethically, with naturalistic observations of children, it is extremely important that consent has been gained and parents are fully aware of the reasons behind the observations.
What is a structured observation?
Structured observations are staged observations and are normally carried out within an environment in which the researcher has some control.
Subsequent behaviour can be observed behind a one-way mirror or screen.
Structured observations are set to record behaviours when it would be difficult to gain information from naturalistic observations.
How did Ainsworth use structured observations? (how, strength of, ethics)
Ainsworth carried out structured observations during her research of the Strange Situation.
Structured observations normally use a coding system by which to observe and record certain behaviours in order to gain information.
Structured observations are more reliable than naturalistic observations as the coding systems used allow for replicability.
Ethically, structured observations must ensure that the children being observed are not put under any undue stress.
