Observational techniques

• Naturalistic = carried out in a real-world setting
• Controlled = conducted under more controlled circumstances, such as in a lab
• Overt = participants are aware they are being studied
• Covert = participants are not aware that they are being studied

  "under cover"
• Nonparticipant observation = researcher observes from outside the group or situation.
• Participant = observer becomes part of the group they are studying
• Behavioural categories can be used to record particular instances of behaviour as psychologists are unable to observe a continuous stream of behaviours.
• Event sampling (an observational design) = recordings take place as the behaviour occurs

  e.g. the number of times a student talks
• Time sampling (an observational design) = recordings take place at specified time intervals

  e.g. every minute
• Observational techniques:

  strength: Capture what people do - people often act differently from how they say they will in self-report methods, observations are useful as they give insight into spontaneous behaviour

  limitation: risk of observer bias - researcher's interpretation of the situation may be affected by expectations, bias can be reduced by using more than one observer
• Naturalistic observation evaluation:

  strength: high external validity as in a natural context, behaviour is more likely to be spontaneous and therefore it is more generalisable to everyday life

  limitation: low control means there may be uncontrolled CVs/EVs. This makes it more difficult to detect patterns
• Controlled observations evaluation:

  strength: can be replicated as they are more easily repeated due to standardised procedures. This means that findings can be checked to see if they occur again

  limitation: low external validity as behaviour may be forced as a result of the setting. This means that findings cannot be generalised to everyday life.
• Covert observations evaluation:

  strength: demand characteristics are reduced as participants don't know they are being watched so their behaviour becomes more natural. This increases the internal validity of the findings

  limitation: ethically questionable as people may not want their behaviour recorded. therefore participants' right to privacy may be affected
• Overt observation evaluation:

  strength: more ethically acceptable as participants have given their consent to be studied. They have the right to withdraw.

  limitation: demand characteristics as knowledge of being studied influences behaviour
• Participant observation evaluation:

  strength: can lead to greater insight as the researcher experiences the situation as the participants do. This enhances the external validity of the findings.

  limitation: possible loss of objectivity as the researcher may identify too strongly with those they are studying. This threatens the objectivity and internal validity of the findings.
• Non-participant observation evaluation:

  strength: more objective as the researcher maintains an objective distance so there is less chance of bias. This may increase the internal validity of the findings

  limitation: loss of insight as the researcher may be too far removed from those they are studying. This may reduce the external validity of the findings.
• Observational design: behavioural categories

  Behavioural categories - the target behaviour to be observed should be broken up into a set of observable categories.
• Behavioural categories:

  limitations

  • difficult to make clear and unambiguous as categories should be self-evident and not overlap but this is not always possible to achieve. For example 'smiling' and 'grinning' would be poor categories
  • ignored categories - all forms of behaviour should be in the list as 'dumped' behaviours go unrecorded.
• Event samping:

  strength: useful for infrequent behaviour. the researcher will still pick up behaviours that do not occur at regular intervals. such behaviours could be easily missed using time sampling

  limitation: complex behaviour oversimplified - if the event is too complex, important details may go unrecorded. this may impact the validity of the findings.
• Time sampling:

  strength: reduces the number of observations as rather than recording everything that is seen, data is recorded at certain intervals. This makes the observation more structured and systematic.

  limitation: may be unrepresentative as the researcher may miss important details outside of the timescale. This means it may not reflect the whole behaviour.
• When designing my own observational study:

  • use subheadings
  • use the bullet points given to guide my answer and do not stray from them as it will not gain marks