Review 5

Question 1

What is observation?

Answer 1

. Researcher watching participants and recording behaviour

. No variable are manipulated

Question 2

Types of observation

Answer 2

. Covert
. Overt
. Participant
. Non-participant
. Naturallistic
. Controlled
. Unstructured
. Structured
. Time sampling
. Event sampling

Question 3

Covert?

Answer 3

Participant are not aware of being observed

Question 4

Overt?

Answer 4

Participant are aware of being observed

Question 5

Covert
(Strengths)

Answer 5

. Participants behave naturally
. Non-participants observers can use equipment to accuratly record data

Question 6

Covert
(Weaknesses)

Answer 6

. Ethical issues
. Difficult to mantain cover status - Validity is compromised

Question 7

Overt
(Strengths)

Answer 7

. Ethical

Question 8

Overt
(Weaknesses)

Answer 8

. Demand characteristics

Question 9

Participant?

Answer 9

Observer act as part of the group being observed

Question 10

Non-Participant?

Answer 10

Observer is not part of the group being observed

Question 11

Participant
(Strengths)

Answer 11

. Insigth into participants emotions and motives

. If they are not aware, high internal validity

Question 12

Participant
(Weaknesses)

Answer 12

. Observer may be subjective
. If observer is hidden, ethical issues arise

Question 13

Non-Participants
(Strengths)

Answer 13

. Observer is objective
. If hidden, observer can use equipment

Question 14

Non-Participant
(Weaknesses)

Answer 14

. Ehical issues if participant are not aware
. Demand characteristics if participants are aware

Question 15

Naturalistic?

Answer 15

Natural environment

Question 16

Controlled?

Answer 16

Laboratory

Question 17

Naturalistic
(Strengths)

Answer 17

. High internal and ecological validity

Question 18

Naturalistic
(Weaknesses)

Answer 18

. Low control = Low reliability
. If aware, demand characteristics = Low validity

Question 19

Controlled
(Strengths)

Answer 19

. Data recording more reliable
. Control = High reliability

Question 20

Controlled
(Weaknesses)

Answer 20

. Artificial situation = Demand Characteristics

. Unfamiliar situation

Question 21

Unstructured?

Answer 21

All relevant behaviour recorded

Question 22

Structured?

Answer 22

Pre determined categories

Question 23

Unstructured
(Strengths)

Answer 23

. No limit in what can be recorded
. Give context to behaviour

Question 24

Unstructured
(Weaknesses)

Answer 24

. Observers can miss important information

. Recording may be subjective and inconsistent

. Data could be irrelevant

Question 25

Structured
(Strengths)

Answer 25

. Pre determined categories can be agreed before time = high reliability

. Practising the use of data collection = high inter-rater validity

Question 26

Structure
(Weakness)

Answer 26

. Limited categories of behaviour
. No context to behaviour = Low validity

Question 27

Time sampling?

Answer 27

Regular time intervals

Question 28

Event sampling?

Answer 28

Every time a behaviour occurs

Question 29

Time sampling
(Strengths)

Answer 29

. Gives indication of overall time spent on each behaviour and the order

. More manageable

Question 30

Time sampling
(Weakness)

Answer 30

. Some behaviours may be missed
. Difficult to record behaviours as timings has to be precise