why use observational methods
questionnaires limited applicability
steps of observational research
observe informally ask questions choose measures choose recording method design experiment run experiment analyse publish ask more questions
choosing measures in observation
operational hypothesis or ostensive definitions
events or states
what is a ostensive definition
provide examples through pictures or diagrams along with descriptions of behaviour of interest
what is an ethogram
types of measures in observation
scales of measurement
nominal
ordinal
interval
ratio-interval
recording methods, sampling rules
ad libitum
focal sampling
scan sampling
behaviour sampling
what is ad libitum sampling
what is focal sampling
specific individual isolated
potential bias: can be large if focal subject seeks privacy for specific behaviours
what is scan sampling
number of individuals observed
potential bias: rare events of short duration underestimated, while common events overestimated
what is behaviour sampling
all-occurrences sampling
potential bias: overestimation of conspicuous events
recording methods, recording rules
time sampling: instantaneous, one-zero
continuous recording
potential biases of recording rules
time sampling: underestimate rare behaviours of short duration
continuous: high fidelity records, fewer categories coded, underestimate long duration behaviours as more likely truncated by end of session
coding schemes
applied to observations to produce data
data isn’t standardised so can refer to videos or numerical data
coding schemes: principles measurement
perfect doesn’t exist
measurements more/less accurate
measurements more/less precise
what does accurate refer to (coding schemes)
correct and valid measurement
what does precise refer to (coding schemes)
exactitude: reliable and replicable
coding schemes: principle design
mutually exclusive
exhaustive
use category ‘other’ for behaviours not interested in
reliability; coding scheme
intra observer reliability
same observer codes same behavioural record at diff times
how consistent observer is
inter observer reliability
different observers independently code same behavioural record at same/different times
-how similar different observers code
consensus measures of inter observer reliability
consistency measures of inter observer reliability
assumption that it’s unnecessary for identical interpretation