Non-Experimental Methods

• How to determine which each type of observation technique to use

  1. naturalistic OR controlled
  2. covert OR overt
  3. participant OR non-participant
• What is a naturalistic observation, a controlled observation?

  • naturalistic - researchers observe participants in their natural environments
  • controlled - where aspects are maintained by the researcher e.g changing environemnt and/or giving them a task
• What is a covert observation, an overt observations?

  • covert - partcipants do not know they are being observed ( no informed consent )
  • overt - participants are aware they are being observed ( the researcher is out in the open )
• what is a participant observation, and non-participant?

  • participant - the researcher joins the individuals being observed
  • non-participant - the researcher is not involved with the partcipants and is simply a researcher
• Evaluation - problems with all observation (limitation)

  • observer bias - involves interpreting behaviour and is subjective
  • e.g labelling behaviour as assertive or aggressive
  • to couteract this, more than 1 observer isused and 'inter-observer reliability' is calculated
  • observations cannot establish 'cause and effect'
• evaluation of naturalistic and controlled observations

  • naturalistic have higher external validity - they apply to real life more easily than controlled observations
  • the less you tamper with participants, the more natural their behaviour
  • whilst controlled observations have low external validity they have more control over extraneous variables - they are also more easily replicable, to test for reliability.
• evaluation of covert and overt observations.

  • covert observations reduce chances of demand characteristics, increasing validity as partcipants do not know they're being studied so don't change their behaviour
  • covert observations are less ethical
  • overt observations are more ethical , but partcipants behaviour may change if they know they're being studied
• evaluation of participant and non-participant observations

  • being part of group may give better insight into behaviour and attitudes - this increases data validity
  • blurring the lines between participant and researcher in paticipant observations could end up losing objectivity
  • non-participant observations have more objectivity, but it may be harder to study behaviour from a distance
• what is a structured and unstructured observation?

  unstructured - researcher writing down everything they see - this is rich in detail and appropriate for observations at a small scale.

  structured - simplyfing target behaviours that will become the focus of an investigation using behavioural categories
• what are behavioural categories?

  • when a target behaviour is split up into a set of behavioural categories, the main behaviour is simplified into more specific behaviours e.g 'people working out' could be split into lifting weights, doing cardio etc.
• sampling methods for behavioural categories?

  • event sampling - counting the amount of times a particular behaviour happens in a group/individual
  • time sampling - recording behaviour within a pre-esteablished time frame (e.g seeing what behaviour is being done every 30 seconds)
• evaluation of structured and unstructured interview?

  • structured - uses behavioural categories, easily distinguished and comprehensive of behaviour being studied, quantitative data obtained
  • unstructured - no behavioural categories, qualitative data produced
• evaluation of samping methods?

  • event sampling - useful for less frequent behaviour
  • time sampling - useful for more frequent behaviour as event sampling for this would be too overwhelming.
• Ethical Issues Mneumonic?

  I - Informed Consent

  Don't - Deception

  Punch - Protection from Harm

  Purring - Privacy

  Cats - Confidentiality
• How researchers deal with ethical issues?

  Clowns - Consent Form

  Don't - Debrief

  Remember - Right to Withdraw

  Anything - Anonimity