Observational techniques

• Reasons for observational techniques

  Provide psychologists with a way of seeing what people do without having to ask them and allows researchers to study observable behaviour within natural/controlled setting
• Observations helping with variables

  Gives researcher flexibility to study more complex interactions between variables in a more natural way. Observations often used to assess the DV
• Naturalistic observations


  Takes place in setting where the target behaviour would usually occur. All aspects of environments are free to vary
• Controlled observations

  Highly regulated and some control over variables where researcher can manipulate variables to observe effects
• Strengths to naturalistic and controlled observations

  NOs have high external validity as the findings can be generalised to everyday life which means it has high ecological validity. COs have high levels of control over EVs so replication is made possible
• Weaknesses to naturalistic and controlled observations

  NOs lack control over EVs so can't replicate experiment. COs lack ecological validity so study can not be generalised
• Covert and overt observations


  Observing participants without or with their knowledge
• Strengths to covert and overt observations

  COs have low ppt reactivity and ensures observed behaviour is natural increasing validity of data and OOs are more ethically acceptable
• Weaknesses to covert and overt observations

  COs are ethically questioned as people may not want to be observed, their privacy is in question and OOs give ppts knowledge that they're being observed so this may act as a significant influence over their behaviour
• Ppt and non ppt observation


  In ppt observations the researcher is part of the group they're studying and in non-ppt observations the researcher remains separate from the group they are studying and records behaviour in a more objective manner
• Strengths to ppt and non ppt observations

  For ppt observations, the researcher gets increased insight into lives of the people they are studying which may increase validity of findings. Non-ppt Os allow researcher to maintain an objective psychological distance from ppts stopping them from going 'native
• Weaknesses to ppt and non ppt observations

  In Ppt Os, researcher may identify too strongly with ppts and lose objectivity causing them to 'go native' when being researcher and ppt gets blurry. Non-ppt Os may lead researcher to lose valuable insight to be gained in a ppt observation as they are so removed from the people and behaviour they are studying