designs of observations

• unstructured observations are when the researcher freely records all relevant data usually in note form.

  • this design may be used when there is no existing research and is therefore used as a pilot study to see which behaviours can be further investigated
• structured observations are more commonly used.

  • a system is imposed before observing behaviour which includes categorising which behaviours are to be observed and devising a sampling procedure.
  • most likely video recorded and produce quantitative data
• in structured observations the behaviour being studied is broken down into BEHAVIOURAL CATEGORIES.

  • this is a way of operationalising general behaviour into specific, objective and measurable set of data
  • eg aggression in children- snatching toys, hitting, screaming
• behaviour sampling is when there's too much data to record so a system of sampling is created which refers to how often behaviour is recorded on a coding sheet.

  • there are two types of behaviour sampling, event sampling and time sampling
• event sampling-

  • observers record every time a certain behaviour occurs and then count the total number ( frequency ) of the behaviour
• time sampling -

  • observers decide on a time interval and record which behaviour happens at that time
• pros and cons of event sampling

  • pros- makes sure that behaviours are not missed
  • cons- difficult if there are lots of behaviours taking place
• pros and cons of time sampling

  • pros- best if there a lots of behaviours that are likely to occur often
  • cons- behaviours may be missed