Research Methods 5: Observational Design Flashcards
Behavioural categories is an…
observational technique where participants’ possible behaviours are separated into more specific components.
3 advantages of behavioural categories are…
Enables behaviour to be operationalised, provides clear focus for the researcher, enables proposal of testable hypothesis.
A weakness of behavioural categories is…
it is arbitrary and could miss certain forms of behaviour and this decreases internal validity.
Event sampling is when…
The observers decide on a specific event and record it every time it is observed. Useful when behaviour is infrequent.
A strength of event sampling is…
The observer aims to recall all behavioural the results are likely to be valid.
A disadvantage of event sampling is…
If too many observations happen at once the researcher may find it difficult to record all behaviour meaning results may not be representative and may not be valid.
Time sampling is when…
Behaviour is only observed and recorded when it occurs at given points in time such as every 5 mins.
A strength of time sampling is…
The observer has time to record what they have seen so the results are likely to be valid.
A disadvantage of time sampling is…
some behaviours will happen outside of the intervals so results may not be representative and may not be valid.
In the observational design behavioural categories, the psychologist decides…
the exact behaviours that they are looking for and creates a table of behavioural categories.
The behavioural categories chosen should…
Reflect what is being studied
