Observational design

• How is observer bias dealt with?

  many researchers conduct a observational study, results then compared and a score above 80 % means there is a high inter observer reliability
• what is an unstructured observational design?

  continuous reading where the researcher writes everything they see
• what are strengths to unstructured?

  rich in detail
• what are limitations to unstructured?

  • qualitative data- difficult to analyse
  • risk of observer bias- catch the eyes behaviours
• what is a structured observational design?

  • researcher quantifies what he is observing by using pre-determined list of behaviours
• what are strengths to structured observational design?

  • easier as more systematic
  • quantitative data- easier to analyse
  • less risk of observer bias
• what are limitations to a structured observational design?

  • not much detail
  • difficult to achieve high inter observer reliability
• what are the two sampling methods for structured observational design?

  • time
  • event
• what is time sampling?

  recording of behaviour within a timeframe pre-established before the study
• why is time sampling benefical?

  • less time consuming
• why is time sampling not good?

  • the small data you collect may be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole
  • can miss important details when not in timeframe
• what is event sampling?

  counting of the number of times a particular behaviour is carried out
• why is event sampling beneficial?

  • good for infrequent behaviours that are likely to be missed out with time sampling
• outline the limitations to event sampling?

  • can be counting errors
  • difficult to judge beginning and ending of a behaviour
  • important details can be missed