RM observational design Flashcards
What is meant by observational design
how a researcher plans an observational study
what is an unstructured observation
the researcher writes down everything it sees
- tends to produce behaviour data which is rich
when do we use an unstructured observation
when it involves a small amount of participants and is small in scale
what is a structured observation
research which allows researcher to quantify their observations using a predetermined list of behaviour and sampling methods
what are behavioural catagories
when a target behaviour is broken down into observable components
- target behaviours should be precisely defined and made observable and measurable
what is event sampling
counting the the no. of times a particular behaviour occurs in an individual or group.
what is time sampling
counting the no. of times a particular behaviour occurs within a time frame
why is sampling used
it is a systematic way of categorising behaviour
what are the benefits/advantages of using structured observations
- ones that use behavioural categories make recording of data a lot easier and systematic
- analysing and comparing observations between two individuals
what are the limitations of unstructured observations
- data produced is qualitative which makes it harder to record and analyse
- greater risk of observer bias as objective categories are not present
What are the strengths of unstructured observations
- data is more rich and in more depth as it is qualitative
behavioural categories (AO3)
- makes data collection more structured and objective
- categories must be as clear and unambiguous as possible
- all forms of target behaviour must be included
- categories should not overlap
sampling AO3
- useful when target behaviour or even happens frequently
- if the event is too complex the observer may overlook details
- time sampling effective in reducing no. of observations that have to be made
- moments when behaviour is sampled might be unrepresentative
