Observational Study: Naturalistic, Controlled or Participant , Self-Report Inventory , Survey ,Twin Study

Observational Study

can either be:

•overt/disclosed -the participants know they are being studied

•covert/undisclosed -the researcher keeps their real identity a secret from the research subjects, acting as a genuine member of the group

Strength of observational study

relatively cheap to carry out and few resources are needed by the researcher

Weakness of observational study

very time consuming and longitudinal

Methods of Observational Study

Naturalistic, Controlled, and Participant.

Naturalistic Observation

•unstructured observations

•observing involves studying the spontaneous behavior of participants in natural surroundings.

•researcher simply records what they see in whatever way they can

Strengths in Naturalistic Observation

• greater ecological validity

• often used to generate new ideas

Limitations in Naturalistic Observation

• often conducted on a micro scale and may lack a representative sample

• less reliable as other variables cannot be controlled

• we do not have manipulations of variables which means cause and effect relationships cannot be established.

Controlled Observation

•structured observations

•likely to be carried out in a psychology laboratory

•researcher decides where the observation will take place, at what time, with which participants, in what circumstances and uses a standardized procedure.

•participants are randomly allocated to each independent variable group.

Strengths in Controlled Observation

• can be easily replicated by other researchers by using the same observation schedule

• data obtained from structured observations is easier and quicker to analyze as it is quantitative

• fairly quick to conduct which means that many observations can take place within a short amount of time

Limitation in Controlled Observation

• can lack validity due to the Hawthorne effect/demand characteristics

Participant Observation

•a variant of the natural observations but here the researcher joins in and becomes part of the group they are studying to get a deeper insight into their lives

•can be either cover or overt

•Covert-study is carried out undercover

•Overt-the researcher reveals his/her true identity and purpose to the group and asks permission to observe

Limitations in participant observation

•difficult to get time / privacy for recording

•if the researcher becomes too involved, they may lose objectivity and become bias

The three main sampling methods are:

Event, time, and instantaneous sampling.

Event sampling

The observers decides in advance what types of behavior, they are interested in and records all occurrences.

Time sampling

The observers decide in advance that observation will take place only during specified time periods and record the occurrence of the specified behavior during that period only.

Instantaneous (target time) sampling

The observer decides in advance the pre-selected moments when observation will take place and records what is happening at that instant.

Self-Report Inventory

any method that asks participants to report upon themselves

•include questionnaires, many psychological assessment scales, and interviews in which the test taker or interviewee is asked to respond, either on a pencil-and-paper form or on a computer, to a series of questions about his or her motives and feelings.

Strengths of the Self-Report Inventories

•provide a window into the test taker’s behavioral tendencies, feelings, and motives, which are in turn summarized with a specific interpretation

•can measure a wide range of constructs, attitudes, interests, values, traits

Limitations of Self-report measures of personality

•they are always subject to contamination: a person might be motivated to “fake good” or to “fake bad.”

•different individuals have different response styles that can influence the impression communicated by the responses to the personality test

Survey Research

• the collection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses to questions

• often used to describe and explore human behavior

• It can use:

• quantitative research strategies -using questionnaires with numerically rated items

• qualitative research strategies-using open-ended questions)

• Both quantitative & qualitative strategies ( mixed methods)

large population-based data collection

Survey research has historically included ___

• primary purpose of this type of survey research was to obtain information describing characteristics of a large sample of individuals of interest relatively quickly

Survey Research -

It has developed into a rigorous approach to research in order to ensure a high-quality research process and outcome, with scientifically tested strategies detailing:

•who to include (representative sample),

•what and how to distribute (survey method), and

•when to initiate the survey and follow up with non-responders (reducing nonresponse error)

Types of error in survey research

converge, sampling, measurement, and nonresponse error.

Converge Error

Source of error: unknown or zero chance of individuals in the population being included in the sample

Strategies to reduce error: multimode design

Sampling Error

Source of error: individuals included in the sample do not represent the characteristics of the population

Strategies to reduce error: clearly identified population of interest; diverse participant recruitment strategies; large, random sample

Measurement Error

Source of error: questions/instruments do not accurately reflect the topic of interest; questionnaires/interviews do not evoke truthful answers

Strategies to reduce error: valid, reliable instruments; pretest questions'; user-friendly graphics, visual characteristics

Nonresponse Error

Source of error: lack of response from all individuals in sample

Strategies to reduce error: user-friendly survey designs; follow up procedures for nonresponders

Types of data collection methods

Questionnaires, interviews, and mixed methods

Questionnaires

•may be self-administered or administered by a professional, may be administered individually or in a group, and typically include a series of items reflecting the research aims.

•may include demographic questions in addition to valid and reliable research instruments

•must evaluate validity and reliability of items or instruments

Interviews

•may be conducted by phone, computer, or in person and have the benefit of:

• visually identifying the nonverbal responses of the interviewee and

• subsequently being able to clarify the intended question.

•can be costly and time intensive, and therefore are relatively impractical for large samples.

Mixed methods

•Some authors advocate using _ for survey research when no one method is adequate to:

• address the planned research aims,

• reduce the potential measurement and non-response error,

• better tailor the study methods to the intended sample

questions to ask and how it will be asked.

In designing the Survey Questions, there is a need to decide which — and —

• The type of questions

• The content of the questions

• The phrasing of the questions

• The ordering and layout of the survey

In designing the Survey Questions, It is important to consider the following:

Open-ended questions

•best for qualitative research

•has no predetermined answers to choose from, the respondent answers in their own words.

•often useful as follow up questions are used to ask for more detailed explanations of responses to the closed questions

Closed-ended questions

• give the respondent a predetermined set of answers to choose from

• best for quantitative research

• provides numerical data that can be statistically analyzed to find patterns, trends,

and correlations.

closed-ended question

A ___ can include:

• A binary answer -yes/no or agree/disagree

• A scale -Likert scale with five points ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree

• A list of options with a single answer possible - age categories

• A list of options with multiple answers possible-leisure interests

The Content of the Survey Questions

• All questions should be narrowly focused with enough context for the respondent to answer accurately.

• Avoid questions that are not directly relevant to the survey’s purpose.

• When constructing closed-ended questions, ensure that the options cover all possibilities.

Phrasing the Survey Questions

1. Tailor the questions to the target population, keeping in mind their level of knowledge of the topic.

2. Use language that respondents will easily understand and avoid words with vague or ambiguous meanings.

3. Make sure the questions are phrased neutrally, with no bias towards one answer or another.

Ordering the survey questions

• The questions should be arranged in a logical order.

• Start with easy, non-sensitive, closed-ended questions that will encourage the respondent to continue.

• If the survey covers several different topics or themes, group together related questions, and divide it into sections.

Twin Study

The study of twins in scientific research allows researchers to attempt to disentangle the effects of genetic and environmental effects on biology and psychology.

Methods Used in Twin Research

Twin studies intend to measure the heritability of a trait, which can be determined by concordance rates.

Concordance rate (CR)

for a disease or trait among identical and fraternal twin pairs is actually a statistical measure of probability

Strengths of Twin study

• Twin studies allow disentanglement of the shared genetic and environmental factors for the trait of interest.

• Researchers can estimate the proportion of variance in a trait attributable to genetic variation versus the proportion that is due to shared environment or unshared environment.

• The use of twins can improve the statistical power of a genetic study by reducing the amount of genetic and/or environmental variability

Limitations of Twin study

• Results from twin studies cannot be directly generalized to the general population, due to lack of randomization

• Findings from twin studies are often misunderstood, misinterpreted, and blown out of proportion

• Many twin registries depend on the voluntary participation of twins.

• The use of twins does not allow the researcher to consider the effects of both shared-environment and gene/environment interaction simultaneously.