Observation

• what are the six observational techniques?

  naturalistic, controlled, covert, overt, participant and non-participant.
• observational techniques

  a way of seeing or listening to what people do without having to ask them.

  observation is often used within an experiment as a way of assessing the DV.
• strength of observational techniques

  can capture unexpected behaviour. 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 of observational techniques

  risk of researcher bias. researcher's interpretation of the situation may be affected by expectations. bias can be reducing using more than one observer.
• naturalistic observational technique

  takes place where the target behaviour would normally occur.
• strength of the naturalistic observational technique

  high external validity. in a natural context, behaviour is likely to be more spontaneous. more generalisable to everyday life.
• limitation of the naturalistic observational technique

  low control. there may be uncontrolled EVs. makes it more difficult to detect patterns.
• controlled observational technique

  some control/manipulation of variables including control of EVs
• strength of the controlled observational technique

  can be replicated. more easily repeated due to standardised procedures. findings can be checked to see if they occur again.
• limitation of the controlled observational technique

  may have low external validity. behaviour may be contrived as a result of the setting. findings cannot be applied to everyday experience.
• covert observational technique

  participants are unaware they are being studied.
• strength of the covert observational technique

  demand characteristics reduced. participants do not know they're being watched so their behaviour will be more natural. this increases the validity of the findings.
• limitation of the covert observational technique

  ethically questionable. people may not want behaviour recorded, even in public. participants' right to privacy may be affected.
• overt observational technique.

  participants are aware of being studied.
• strength of the overt observational technique

  more ethically acceptable. participants have given their consent to be studied. they have the right to withdraw if they wish.
• limitation of the overt observational technique

  demand characteristics. knowledge of being studied influences behaviour. reduces the validity of the findings.
• participant observational technique

  when the researcher becomes part of the group they are studying.
• strength of the participant observational technique

  can lead to greater insight. researcher experiences the situation as the participants do. this enhances the validity of the findings.
• limitation of the participant observational technique

  possible loss of objectivity. the researcher may identify too strongly with those they are studying ('going native'). this threatens the objectivity and validity of the findings.
• what is it called when a researcher identifies to strongly with those they are studying

  'going native'
• non-participant observational technique

  when the researcher remains separate from the group they are studying.
• strength of the non-participant observational technique

  more objective. researcher maintains an objective distance so less chance of bias. may increase the validity of the findings.
• limitation of the non-participant observational technique

  loss of insight. researcher may be too far removed from those they are studying. may reduce the validity of the findings.
• what are the three observational designs?

  behavioural categories, time sampling and event sampling
• behavioural categories observational design

  the target behaviour to be observed should be broken up into a set of observable categories. this is similar to the idea of operationalisation.
• limitations of the behavioural categories observational design

  • difficult to make clear and unambiguous. categories should be self-evident and not overlap, not always possible to achieve. 'smiling' and 'grinning' would be poor categories.
  • dustbin categories. all forms of behaviour should be in the list and not one 'dustbin'. 'dumped' behaviours go unrecorded.
• time sampling observational design

  observations made at regular intervals, e.g. once every 15 seconds.
• strength of the time sampling observational design

  reduces the number of observations. rather than recording everything that is seen (i.e. continuous) data is recorded at certain intervals. the observations is more structured and systematic.
• limitation of the time sampling observational design

  may be unrepresentative. the researcher may miss important details outside of the time-scale. may not reflect the whole behaviour.
• event sampling observational design

  a target behaviour/event is recorded every time it occurs.
• strength of the event sampling observational design

  may record infrequent behaviour. the researcher will still 'pick up' behaviours that do not occur at regular intervals. such behaviours could easily be missed using time sampling.
• limitation of the event sampling observational design

  complex behaviour oversimplified. if the event is too complex, important details may go unrecorded. this may affect the validity of the findings.
• unstructured observation 


  everything is recorded which can be quite difficult if a lot is going on.
• structured observation

  includes behavioural categories and sampling methods.
• a naturalistic observation often uses structured design.