Observational methods

• Behavioural categories

  • used in observational studies to prioritise which behaviours are recorded
  • ensures different observers are consistent in what they are looking for
• What is a strength of behavioural categories

  • improves inter-observer reliability
  • helps researchers avoid subjective interpretations that could skew the findings
• What is event sampling?

  • counting how many times the participant behaves in a certain way
• What is time sampling?

  • recording participant behaviour at regular time intervals
• What is a naturalistic observation?

  • observations made in a real world setting
• What is a controlled observation?

  • observations made in an artificial setting set up for the purposes of observation
• Covert vs overt observations


  • covert - participants are not aware they are being observed as part of a study
  • Overt - participants are aware they are being observed as part of a study
• Participants vs non-participant 


  • participants is where researchers is actively involved in the situation being observed
  • non-participant observation is where the researcher is not involved in the situation being observed
• Why are behavioural categories important for observations?

  • they focus on specific behaviours that can be observed objectively
  • reduces subjective interpretations
  • categories are non overlapping and unambiguous
• Describe how observers could use time sampling to record behaviour during a 5 minute period

  • behaviours should be observed at set time intervals such as every 20 seconds during the 5 minute period
  • each time a behaviour is observed it should be marked under the appropriate behavioural category
  • behaviours observed outside the sampling time frames should not be recorded
• Limitations of observations


  • observer bias - the observer's interpretation may be affected by their expectations (reduced by inter-rater reliability)
• What is a strength of naturalistic observations?

  • high external validity (behaviour is studied in an environment where it would normally occur)
• What is a limitation of naturalistic observations?

  • lack of control of makes replication difficult (confounding/extraneous variables make it difficult to judge patterns of behaviour)
• Strength of controlled observations?

  • confounding and extraneous variables are reduced so replication of the observation is easier
• Strength and limitation of covert observations?

  strength - removed demand characteristics + ensures natural behaviour is observed (increases internal validity)

  Limitation - invading privacy of certain activities (less ethical)
• strengths and limitations of participant observations

  • strength - researchers have an increased insight into the lives of the people being studied (increases external validity)
  • limitation - researcher may loose objectivity by identifying too strongly with the participants
• Advantages and disadvantages of event sampling

  • useful when the target behaviour happens infrequently and could be missed if time sampling was used
  • however the researcher may overlook important details if the event is too complex
• Advantages and disadvantages of time sampling

  • effective in reducing the number of observations that have to be made (the behaviours are more frequent)
  • behaviours are recorded in a time frame so it may not be representative
• Explain how the reliability of a controlled observation could be assessed through inter-rater reliability

  • two observers would use the same behavioural categories
  • they would make independent observations the the same group of participants
  • their tally charts would be compared to check for agreement
  • researchers generally accept a +0.8 correlation as a reasonable degree of reliability