observations

Question 1

What type of method is an observation?

Answer 1

Non-experimental

Question 2

Why are observations non-experimental?

Answer 2

• No manipulation of variables
• Not technically an experiment

Question 3

What are the 8 sub-types of observation?

Answer 3

Naturalistic or controlled environment
Structured or unstructured systems
Participant or non-participant
Overt or covert

Question 4

What are the positives and negatives of a naturalistic environment observation?

Answer 4

+ High ecological validity
+ Can be generalised to real life as behaviour is studied in a normal environment

• Hard to replicate as there is a low control of variables

Question 5

What are the positives and negatives of a controlled environment observation?

Answer 5

+ Easier to replicate as the variables are controlled

• Unnatural environment so behaviour is less natural

Question 6

What are the positives and negatives of a covert observation?

Answer 6

+ Behaviour is more natural

• Less ethical as participants cannot give informed consent

Question 7

What are the positives and negatives of an overt observation?

Answer 7

+ Ethical as it is possible for participants to give informed consent

• Participants behaviour may change through social desirability bias

Question 8

What are the positives and negatives of a participant observation?

Answer 8

+ Researcher can get in-depth data as they are close to the participants and so are unlikely to overlook or miss behaviours

• Researchers being part of the group could affect objectivity (conducting research free of bias)

Question 9

What are the positives and negatives of a non-participant observation?

Answer 9

+ Researchers are more objective as they are not part of the group

• Researcher may miss behaviours or not gain as much information

Question 10

What are the positives and negatives of a structured observation?

Answer 10

+ Makes the recording of data easier and can replicate

• Important information may be missed if it hasnt been defined as a category

Question 11

What are the positives and negatives of an unstructured observation?

Answer 11

+ Detailed

• May be too much to record so a greater risk of observer bias as the observer may focus on behaviours that meet the aims

Question 12

What are the 2 different types of sampling that can be used in an observation?

Answer 12

Time sampling
Event sampling

Question 13

What is Time sampling?

Answer 13

Design behavioural categories or coding frames of anticipated behaviours (max. 6) and agree on a schedule of when you will observe and for how long each time

Question 14

What are the positives and negatives of time sampling?

Answer 14

+ Reduces the number of observations being made

• May be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole eg. something happening between the interval

Question 15

What is Event sampling?

Answer 15

Design behavioural categories or coding frames of anticipated behaviours (max. 6) and tally every time you see an instance of the behaviours on the coding scheme

Question 16

What are positives and negatives of event sampling?

Answer 16

+ Useful if behaviour doesnt happen often so could be missed in time sampling

• If too many behaviours happen at once, it may be difficult to get everything down

Question 17

What must behavioural categories be in an observation?

Answer 17

Operationalised into different behaviours

Question 18

What should behavioural categories be?

Answer 18

Shouldn’t overlap e.g smiling and grinning
Be observable
Be precise
Cover all possible behaviours

Question 19

What is a problem of having a single observer?

Answer 19

Single observers may miss important details or only notice events that confirm the hypothesis

Question 20

How do you check for inter-observer reliability?

Answer 20

• Let the observers familiarise themselves with the behavioural categories
• Observe the same behaviours at the same time in a small pilot study
• Compare data and discuss differences
• Conduct observation
• Analyse data and correlate both observations
• High correlation means high inter-observer reliability

Question 21

What are the issues with validity of observations?

Answer 21

Observer bias

Issues with the coding systems

Question 22

How can observer bias be reduced?

Answer 22

Having more than one observer
Using double blind technique

Question 23

How can issues with the coding system be reduced?

Answer 23

Piloting the observation and tweak categories
Compare to similar observations already conducted