observational design

what is unstructured observation

what is unstructured observation

this is when researchers write down everything they see

this tends to produce account of data that are rich in detail

when is unstructured observation appropriate

when observations are small in scale and involve few participants

i.e. couple therapy

what is a structured interview

this is target behaviours are simplified and become the main focus of the investigation

when is a structured interview appropriate

when there is too much going in a single observation for the researcher to record it all

what is a behavioural category

when a target behaviour is broken up into components that are observable and measurable

what makes a good behavioural checklist

target behaviours to be studied should be precisely defined and made observable and measurable

no need for inference to be made - so cannot be interpreted differently by observers

observer must make sure to include all the possible target behaviour that may occur withing the checklist

why is it recommended that researchers do not conduct observational studies alone

this is because single observers may miss important details or may only notice events that confirm their opinions/ hypothesis

this introduces bias to the research process

how can data recording be made more objective and unbiased

observations should be carried out by at least two researchers.

what is inter observer reliability

the process of data from two or more observers being compared to check for consistency and reliability

How is inter observer reliability carried out

observers should familiarise themselves with the behaviour categories to be used

observe the same behaviour at the same time - perhaps as part of a pilot study

observers should compare the data they have recorded and discuss any differences in interpretation

finally observers should analyse the data from the study - inter-observer reliability

what are the two types of sampling methods

event sampling

time sampling

what is continuous recording

this type of recording of behaviour is a key feature of unstructured observations in which all instances of a target behaviour are recorded. for example complex behaviours

What kind of sampling is used in structured interviews

researchers must use a systematic way of sampling their observations

what is event sampling ?

This involves counting the number of times a particular behaviour occurs in the target individual or group

What is time sampling ?

involves recording behaviour within a pre-established time frame.

e.g. in make not of what a specific individual is doing every 30 seconds

what is good about using a structured observation ?

involves the use of behavioural categories- makes the recording easier and more systematic

data produced is likely to be numerical - analysing and comparing behaviour is much more straight forward

what is good about using unstructured observations ?

tend to produce qualitative data which is more rich in depth of detail in the data collected

what is a negative about unstructured observations ?

they tend to produce qualitative data which may be more difficult to record or analyse

there is also more room for observer bias as the objective behavioural categories that are feat. in behavioural categories are not present here

researchers may only record behaviour that catches their eye which may not be useful

what makes a good behavioural category

it is observable

measurable

self-evident

should not require further interpretation

all possible forms of the target behavior must be included in the checklist

should not be a dustbin category where many diff behaviours can be deposited

categories should not be exclusive + not overlap e.g. difference between smiling + grinning is v hard to discern

what is event sampling useful ?

event sampling is useful when the target behaviour or event happens quite infrequently and could be missed if time sampling was used

what is an advantage of time sampling?

effective in reducing the number of observations that have to be made.

What is a disadvantage of time sampling ?

when behaviour is sampled it might be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole