Psychology - research methods (Observations)

• Naturalistic 


  • strengths = more natural to be observed
  • weaknesses = no control, practical issues and so does not show cause and effect, researcher cannot investigate focused research questions as not manipulated anything
  • behaviour is studied in natural situation where everything has been left as it is normally
• Controlled 


  • strengths = no interruption of confounding variables or extraneous variables, more control of situation, less practical problems
  • weaknesses = manipulate the IV, invalid results, more artificial
  • variables in the environment are changed or regulated
• Participant


  • strengths = flexible method, high ecological validity, understanding of reasons for behaviour
  • weaknesses = observer bias, ethical issues, difficulty replicating
  • researcher conducts experiment from within the target population
• Non - participant

  • strengths = no interference, natural behaviour, replicated easily, more objective data gathered, used as a pilot study
  • weaknesses = risk of observer bias, no reasons for behaviour, issues with reliability with only 1 observer
• Disclosed 


  • strengths = more ethical
  • weaknesses = people may change behaviour due to social desirability effects
  • people have been informed they are being observed
• Undisclosed

  • strengths = people do not subject to social desirability effects
  • weaknesses = less ethical
  • people are unaware they are being observed
• Unstructured 


  • strengths = more data to analyse
  • weaknesses = some info may be irrelevant to study, info may be missed whilst writing down
  • qualitative
• Structured 


  • strengths = general pattern of behaviour, less likely to miss info, not long spent preparing checklist so more time to observe
  • weaknesses = not all behaviours covered in checklist, categories must be clear to achieve interrater reliability,
  • Quantative