RM: Observations

Question 1

What is an observation?

Answer 1

-a researcher observing the behaviour of a sample and looking for patterns
-cannot draw cause and effect relationships

Question 2

What are the 4 main features of an observation?

Answer 2

-settings
-data
-ppts
-observers

Question 3

What is participant reactivity/Hawthorne effect?

Answer 3

-where individuals change an aspect of their behaviour due to knowing they are being observed

Question 4

What is inter-rater reliability?

Answer 4

-2+ observers comparing their results of an observation- should be above 0.8
-degree of agreement among observers

Question 5

What are naturalistic observations?

Answer 5

-observations of behaviour in its natural setting
-researcher does not change behaviour of those observed

Question 6

Strengths of naturalistic observations?

Answer 6

-high ecological validity (natural setting)
-ppts less likely to have demand characteristics

Question 7

Limitations of naturalistic observations?

Answer 7

-little control over EVs
-replication is often not possible (cannot check finding reliability)

Question 8

What are controlled observations?

Answer 8

-take place in controlled settings
-observers are unseen

Question 9

Strengths of controlled observations?

Answer 9

-less risk of EVs affecting behaviour (controlled environment)

Question 10

Limitations of controlled observations?

Answer 10

-artificial setting (lower ecological validity)

Question 11

What are structured observations?

Answer 11

-researcher creates a standardised behavioral checklist made of behavioral categories before observation to code behaviour
-behaviour can be sampled using time/event sampling

Question 12

Strengths of structured observations?

Answer 12

-behavioral checklist allows (objective) quantitative/quantifiable data
-more than one observer can increase reliability

Question 13

Limitations of structured observations?

Answer 13

-pre-existing categories can be restrictive
-don’t explain why the behaviour happens

Question 14

What are unstructured obervations?

Answer 14

-observers write down all behaviours they can see in a qualitative form over a period of time
-no behavioral checklist

Question 15

Strengths of unstructured observations?

Answer 15

-give in-depth qualitative data which can explain why behaviour happens
-researchers are not limited by prior expectations

Question 16

Limitations of unstructured observations?

Answer 16

-observer can get drawn to unrepresentative eye-catching behavior- miss things
-more subjective and less comparable/replicable

Question 17

What are overt observations?

Answer 17

-ppts are aware their behaviour is being studied
-obvious observer

Question 18

Strengths of overt observations?

Answer 18

-more ethical (ppts know they are being studied)

Question 19

Limitations of overt observations?

Answer 19

-ppts know they are being studied, so ppt reactivity

Question 20

What are covert observations?

Answer 20

-ppts are unaware they are being studied

Question 21

Strengths of covert observations?

Answer 21

-ppts do not know they are being studied, more natural behaviour
-higher validity

Question 22

Limitations of covert observations?

Answer 22

-not ethical (deception)
-lacks informed consent

Question 23

What are participant observations?

Answer 23

-researcher joins ppt group
-unknown to be observer by other ppts

Question 24

Strengths of participant observations?

Answer 24

-being part of the group means deeper understanding of group’s behaviour

Question 25

What are non-participant observations?

Answer 25

-observer is separate from the ppt group being observed

Question 26

Limitations of participant observations?

Answer 26

-presence of researcher might influence behaviour
-researcher may lose objectivity

Question 27

Strengths of non-participant observations?

Answer 27

-more likely to be objective

Question 28

Limitations of non-participant observations?

Answer 28

-reason for behaviour is unknown/harder to understand

Question 29

What is a behavioral checklist?

Answer 29

-list of categories used to code the behaviour

Question 30

Criteria for a behavioral checklist?

Answer 30

-should be observable
-no need for inferences
-cover all possible behaviours
-be mutually exclusive/not overlap

Question 31

What is a pilot study?

Answer 31

-small scale study carried out before the actual research
-allows researchers to test checklist/observation schedule

Question 32

What is event sampling?

Answer 32

-counting each time a particular behaviour is observed

Question 33

Strengths of event sampling?

Answer 33

-useful if target behaviour happens infrequently
-may pick up behaviour missed by time sampling

Question 34

Limitations of event sampling?

Answer 34

-if situation is busy, researcher might not record all events of target behaviour

Question 35

What is time sampling?

Answer 35

-recording behaviour at specific timed intervals

Question 36

Strengths of time sampling?

Answer 36

-observer has time to record what they have seen

Question 37

Limitations of time sampling?

Answer 37

-some behaviours will be missed outside the intervals
-unrepresentative results