Observational Techniques

• What is a covert observation?

  Observing people without their knowledge, e.g one way mirror.
• Evaluate a covert observation

  Strengths - no privacy laws violated as its in a public space & demand characteristics reduced

  
  

  Weakness - pp's cannot give IC & there's no RtW
• What is an overt observation?

  Obsevring people with their knowledge, e.g filming publicly
• Evaluate an overt observation

  Strengths - pp's being aware they're being observed gives IC and the RtW & researches reputation as being ethical is protected

  
  

  Weakness - investigator effect, demand characteristics reduces validity of findings
• What is a participant observation?

  The researcher also takes part in the activity being observed
• Evaluate a participant observation

  Strengths - less likely to miss behaviours due to proximity

  
  

  Weakness - investigator effect, demand characteristics reduce validity of findings
• What is a non-participant observation?

  The researcher does not participate in the activity being observed, common in educational settings e.g when an observer sits in the corner of the room and watches the lesson
• Evaluate a non-participant observation

  Strengths - representative of unaltered human conduct

  
  

  Weakness - lack of proximity means researcher may miss behaviours & insights that contribute to behaviour may be overlooked as they're not involved personally
• What is naturalistic observation?

  Observation is carried out in an unaltered setting where the researcher only observes behaviour as it happens naturally e.g shopping centre
• Evaluate a naturalistic observation

  Strengths - high levels of ecological validity: by recording naturally occurring behaviour in the original environment, daily behaviours and spontaneous actions that occur incidentally can be recorded

  
  

  Weakness - can't be replicated & extraneous variables cant be controlled
• What is a controlled observation?

  Conducted under strict conditions where extraneous variables can be controlled to avoid interference with behaviour being observed
• Evaluate a controlled observation

  Strengths - can be replicated to check for reliability & extraneous variables that could negatively impact the findings can be controlled

  
  

  Weakness - low external validity due to the artificial environment & high levels of control can make it unnatural
• What is a structured observation?

  Behavioural categories are made by psychologists to decide what behaviours should be examined.

  This involved breaking target behaviour into components that can be observed and measured e.g aggression —> kicking or hitting
• Evaluate a structured observation

  Strengths - researcher can compare behaviour between groups and individuals more systematically & research methodologies being consistent makes it so accurate comparisons can be made

  
  

  Weakness - less detail obtained so behaviours might be missed
• What is an unstructured observation?

  Every instance of observed behaviour is recorded and described in as much detail as possible
• Evaluate an unstructured observation

  Strengths - increased validity as meaning can be clarified and further info can be gathered & large amounts of qualitative data can be made

  
  

  Weakness - time consuming to analysis qualitative data ( may need content analysis ) & can be expensive as a trained psychologist is needed to administer them
• What is time sampling?

  When an observer records behaviour at intervals, e.g every 2 mins
• What is event sampling?

  When an observed records the number of times a behaviour occurs e.g by a tally chart