Research methods: non-experimental Flashcards
controlled observation ao1
-conditions are manipulated by researcher
-can be carried out in a laboratory type situation (context)
controlled observation strength
-high in reliability as environment is controlled and standardised (context) so the observation can be easily repeated to check for consistent results, therefore gain more respect from other professionals and members of the public
controlled observation weakness
low in ecol. validity as takes place in artificial conditions (context) which does not reflect real life, difficult to generalise the findings to beyond the setting of the observation and lowers external validity
-demand characteristic (if older than 10) as ppts are more likely to know they are being watched (context)
define a naturalistic observation
-watching natural behaviour in a natural environment where the target behaviour would normally occur
-no manipulation of variables
naturalistic observation strength
DEMAND CHARACTERISTICS IF PPTS OVER THE AGE OF 10
Less prone to demand characteristics as people are less likely to know they are being watched (context) therefore they are unlikely to change their natural behaviour and are less likely to help or hinder the research increasing the internal validity of the observation
High ecological validity as the observation takes place in a natural setting (context) therefore easier to generalise the result (context) beyond the settings of the observation to other similar settings increasing the external validity of the research
naturalistic observation limitations
low in reliability as they are being observed in a natural environment (context) therefore difficult to replicate the observation in the exact same conditions to achieve consistent results
ethical issues of lack of informed consent as people may not be aware they are being observed due to being observed in their natural setting (context) therefore have no given their consent to take part .If they become aware they may wish to withdraw their data from the study.
define an overt observation
-ppts are aware their behaviour is being observed so will be aware of the purpose of the research
-observer is clearly visible to the ppts
overt observation strength
more ethically appropriate than covert as ppts know they are being observed (context) so the ppts can give consent for their data to be used
overt observation limitation
ONLY USE IF OLDER THAN 10
More prone to demand characteristics as ppts are more likely to know they are being watched (context) therefore ppts are likely to change their natural behaviour and may help or hinder the research based on the clues given off by the researcher.Therefore lowering the internal validity
define a covert observation
observations conducted without the knowledge of the ppts. This can be done through an observer being hidden
covert observation strength
ONLY USE IF 10 YEARS OLD
Less prone to demand characteristics as people are less likely to know they are being watched (context) therefore they are unlikely to change their natural behaviour and are less likely to help or hinder the research increasing the internal validity of the research
covert observation limitation
ethical issues of lack of informed consent as people may not be aware they are being observed due to being observed in a covert setting (context) therefore have no given their consent to take part. If they become aware they may wish to withdraw their data from the study.
Define a participant observation
the researcher is involved with the group
data collected whilst being part of a group
participant observation strength
observer can gain as in-depth understanding of the group’s behaviour as they are part of the group (context) and so will not miss important aspects eg. feelings and motivations (context). Therefore this increases the overall internal validity of the observation
participant observation limitations
researcher bias as the observer is part of the group (context). This decreases the objectivity as the researchers own thoughts and behaviours may impact the observation and therefore lower the internal validity
non-participant observation definition
researcher is not involved in the group
data collected from distance eg. video camera
non-participant observation strength
there is reduced chance of researcher bias as the observer is not part of the group (context). This increases the objectivity of the obs as the researcher’s own thoughts and behaviours are less likely to impact the obs increasing internal validity
non-participant observation limitation
less likely to gain an in-depth understanding of the group’s behaviour as they are not part of the group (context) and so may miss important aspects (context) therefore lowers the internal validity
two types of recording behaviour
event sampling
time sampling
event sampling AO1
-obs decides on specific behaviour cat (context)
-recorded every time they happen in a set period of time
time sampling AO1
-tallying behaviour in a set time interval eg. 2 mins
-in a hour there would be 30 tallies
strength of event sampling
-useful when behaviour happens infrequently
-as the ppts are watched over a period of time and the behaviour category is recorded every time it occurs
-so researchers are less likely to miss behaviours
-unlike time sampling where if the behaviour happens infrequently it is missed
limitation of event sampling
if the behaviour observed happens very often th observe may miss the behaviour as they cannot tally in time
-unlike time sampling in which the researcher only tallies at set time intervals and so is less likely to miss these behaviours
strength of time sampling
-reduces the amount the observers have to observe the beh. for
-as they only observe in set time intervals
-however as the researchers are only observing at set time intervals the behaviours tallied may not be representative of the obs as a whole
how to assess reliability of observations
- reliability of the obs can be checked by using two observers
- two observers would create and be trained on how to use behav. categories (context)
- two observers would then conduct the obs. separately and watch the same behaviour for the same amount of time (context)
- the tallies from the two observers should be compared and correlated using an app stats test
- a strong positive positive correlation of +0.8 shows high reliability
definition of reliability
ability to replicate the observation for consistent results
how to assess the validity of observation
face validity
concurrent validity
how to conduct face validity
independent psychologist in the same field seeing if a behaviour category (context) looks like measures what it claims to measure (context) at face value.If they say YES the obs is valid
