Research Methods: Observational Design

Question 1

What is observational design?

Answer 1

-Is the plan for how an observation is carried out.

Question 2

What observational design decide?

Answer 2

-Decides who or what is observed, where and how data is recorded.

Question 3

What does observational design include?

Answer 3

-Whether the observation is structured or unstructured, which behaviours are recorded (behavioural categories), and how participants are chosen (sampling procedures).

Question 4

What is unstructured observation?

Answer 4

-Involves recording everything the researcher sees without pre-set categories.
-Produces detailed, rich descriptions of behaviour and is best used in small-scale studies or when the behaviours of interest are not yet clear.

Question 5

What is a structured observation?

Answer 5

-Simplifies the behaviours, ,asking them easier to record
-They use pre-defined behaviours and sampling methods, allowing the researcher to count or measure actions systematically.

Question 6

What are behavioural categories?

Answer 6

-To produce a structured record of what a researcher sees or hears, they have to break the target behaviour up into a group of behavioural categories sometimes referred to as a behaviour checklist.

-For instance, ‘affection’ may be broken down into observational categories such as hugging, kissing, holding hands, etc.

-Each of these behaviours MUST be observable as in there should be no need for inferences to be made.
-Two observers might interpret this differently and thus it would not be a reliable category.

Question 7

Why are using categories beneficial?

Answer 7

-Provides clear focus for researcher
-Enables the proposal of a testable hypothesis as categories allow for more objective/scientific data recording
-Provide data that is easier to quantify/analyse, it can also result im higher rates of reliability

Question 8

What are the sampling procedures?

Answer 8

-Event Sampling
-Time Sampling

Question 10

What is event sampling?

Answer 10

-Involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour (the ‘event’) occurs in a target individual or group.
-EXAMPLE: event sampling of dissent at a football match would mean counting the number of times players disagree with the referee.

Question 11

What is time sampling?

Answer 11

-Involves recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame
-EXAMPLE: In a particular football match we may only be interested in one specific player so we may make a note (using a behavioural checklist) of what our target individual is doing every 30 seconds.

Question 12

Strengths of Event Sampling

Answer 12

-Captures all instances of the target behaviour, so nothing is missed.
-Useful for rare behaviours that might be missed with time sampling.
-Produces quantitative data for analysis

Question 13

Weaknesses of Event Sampling

Answer 13

-Can be overwhelming if the behaviour happens very frequently
-Observer may miss details if multiple behaviours occur at once
-Can be subjective if the behaviour isn’t clearly defined

Question 14

Strengths of TIME SAMPLING

Answer 14

-Makes observing complex or long behaviours manageable
-Allows systematic and consistent recording, reducing observer bias
-Can produce quantitative data that’s easy to compare and analyse

Question 15

Weaknesses of TIME SAMPLING

Answer 15

-May miss behaviours that happen between intervals
-Can underestimate frequency of rare behaviours
-Less detailed than continuous recording; contextually be lost

Question 16

What is recommended to researchers about observational studies and why?

Answer 16

-It is recommended that researchers DO NOT conduct observational studies alone.
-This is because single observers may miss important details or may only notice events that confirm their opinions or hypothesis.
-This introduces bias into the research process.

Question 17

What can you do to make data recording more objective and unbiased?

Answer 17

-Observations should be carried out by at least two researchers.
-Pairs of observers need to be consistent in the judgments and any data they record should be the same or very similar.
-As such observers must be trained to establish inter-observer reliability.

Question 18

How does inter-observer relatability work?

Answer 18

-Observers learn the behavioural categories.
-They watch the same behaviour at the same time (often in a small study practice)
-Observers compare their notes and discuss differences.
-They analyse the study data.
-Reliability is measured by checking how similar the observers’ recordings are.