observational design

Question 1

what does an unstructured observation involve ?

Answer 1

• write down everything you see

Question 2

what does a structured observation involve ?

Answer 2

• pre-determined list of behaviours and sampling methods

Question 3

what are behavioural categories ?

Answer 3

• specific behaviours that the observer is interested in need to be clearly defined (operationalised )
• they need to be broken down into behaviour categories using for example a tally chart

Question 4

sampling methods:
what is meant by continuous recording ?

Answer 4

• all behaviours are recorded

Question 5

when are continuous recordings mostly used ?

Answer 5

• mostly used in unstructured observations

Question 6

what happens in event sampling ?

Answer 6

• count the number of times a specific behaviour occurs

Question 7

what happens in time sampling ?

Answer 7

• record behaviour in a pre-determined time frame

Question 8

what kind of sampling did Ainsworth use in the strange situation study ?

Answer 8

• time sampling
• 3 minute time frame for 8 episodes
• event sampling using a tally chart

Question 9

what happens in inter- observer reliability ?

Answer 9

• when 2 observers familiarise themselves with the behaviour categories
• then they observe the same behaviour
• then they compare the data they have recorded

Question 10

what is an advantage to inter-observer reliability ?

Answer 10

• it is more objective
• reduces bias

Question 11

how is inter-observer reliability calculated ?

Answer 11

• it is calculated by carrying out a statistical analysis of the correlation on each set of data
• looking for a positive correlation (co-efficient +0.8 )

Question 12

AO3
behavioural categories must be clearly defined

Answer 12

• they must be observable, measurable and self-evident
• should not require further interpretation

Question 13

AO3
categories should be exclusive and not overlap

Answer 13

• difference between smiling and grinning is hard to distinguish between and not specific enough

Question 14

AO3
event sampling is useful

Answer 14

• when the target behaviour or event happens quite infrequently it could be missed if time sampling was used

Question 15

AO3
time sampling strength

Answer 15

• effective in reducing the number of observations that have to be made

Question 16

AO3
time sampling limitation

Answer 16

• those instances when behaviour is sampled might be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole
• behaviour could have occurred after a longer amount of time

Question 17

AO3
strength of behaviour categories ?

Answer 17

• can make data collection more structured and objective