Observations

• What are the types of observations?

  • Naturalistic
  • Controlled
  • Overt
  • Covert
  • Participant
  • Non-participant
  • Structured
  • Unstructured
• What are naturalistic observations?


  Behaviour is studied in a natural setting where everything is normal, researcher doesn’t interfere
• What is a controlled observation?

  No IV manipulation, and some variables are controlled by the observer
• What are the evaluation points of naturalistic observations?

  • High ecological validity
  • Lack of control makes replication hard
• What are the evaluation points of controlled observations?

  • Can focus on particular aspects of behaviour
  • Fewer extraneous variables so easy to replicate
  • Participant reactivity - can’t generalise behaviour
• What is an overt observation?


  Participants know they are being watched
• What are the evaluation points of overt observations?

  • Ethically acceptable
  • Demand characteristics
• What are covert observations?


  Participants are unaware they are being watched
• What are the evaluation points of covert observations?

  • Less demand characteristics
  • Ethically questionable
• How do we get around ethical issues with covert observations?

  Use areas covered by CCTV, as technically by entering the area they are consenting to being watched
• What is a participant observation?


  Researcher is part of the group being observed
• What are the evaluation points of participant observations?

  • Gains insight into behaviour which increases validity
  • May lose objectivity - ‘going native‘
• What are non-participant observations?


  The researcher does not actively participate in the situation being observed
• What are the evaluation points of non-participant observations?

  • More objective
  • Less insight into reasons for behaviour
• What are structured observations?

  Behaviour schedules and sampling procedures are used to record behaviour
• What are the strengths of a structured observation?

  • Objective
  • Discounts irrelevant behaviour
• What is an unstructured observation?

  Observer records all relevant behaviour without a behaviour schedule
• What are the weaknesses of unstructured observations?

  • May only record behaviours that stand out
  • May be too much to record
• What is time sampling?


  Recording behaviours within a time period eg noting what the participant is doing every 30 seconds
• What are the evaluation points for time sampling?

  • Efficient
  • May miss infrequently occurring behaviour
• What is event sampling?


  Counting the number of times a certain behaviour occurs within the target group
• What is the evaluation for event sampling?

  • Behaviours won’t be missed, even uncommon ones
  • May be hard to record everything