location observations

• in a naturalistic observation participants are observed in their natural environment.

  • for example children in a nursery or people shopping
• Pros and cons of naturalistic observations

  • strength- high external validity as behaviours are studied in the environment where it would normally occur- can be generalized to everyday life
  • cons- replication is difficult due to lack of control over variable
  • uncontrolled extraneous variables make it hard to judge patterns of behaviours.
• controlled observation is when participants are observed in an artificial environment where there is some type of set up.

  • for example a lab experiment
• pros and cons of controlled observation

  • cons- lacks ecological validity, findings can't be generalised to real life
  • pros- replication is easier due to the lack of extraneous variable, this increased the reliability