COVERT OBSERVATION

Question 1

What is covert observation?

Answer 1

-the researcher joins in the daily activities of the group for a prolonged period of time
-some or all of the group know their identity
- can be participant or non-participant

Question 2

What are the strengths of covert observations?

Answer 2

• no Hawthorne effect-when people change their behaviour because they know they are being observed
• detailed data
  -high validity

Question 3

What are the weaknesses of covert observations?

Answer 3

-lacks reliability-hard to repeat
-ethical-breach of privacy and lack of informed consent
-practical-time consuming
-hard to gain access
-small sample-lacks generalisability and representativeness