collecting data

observations

watching and recording data

observation types

naturalistic, controlled, overt, covert, participant, non-participant

naturalistic

observation of behaviour in its normal setting. no interfering/influencing behaviour

controlled

some varuables controlled by researcher —> reduces naturalness. May be in a lab

overt

participants aware they’re being observed —> try to be unobtrusive

covert

participants are not aware of being observed —> may be informed after

participant

observer is part of the group being observed, some interaction with participants

non-participant

watching/listening to behaviours of others, no interaction with others

naturalistic evaluation

• high realism —> high ecological validity

• lacks control over variables —> not replicable for validity/reliability

controlled evaluation

• lack of realism —> low ecological validity

• high control over variables —> can replicate for reliability/validity

covert evaluation

• high internal validity —> no demand characteristics, social desirability bias, observer effect

• ethical issues —> no informed consent

overt evaluation

• low internal validity —> demand characteristics , social desirability, observer effects

• lack ethical issues —> get informed consent

participant evaluation

• greater insight into behaviour

• difficult to be objective when part of the group —> may impact natural behaviour—> effect internal validity

non-participant evaluation

• may not be possible to understand feelings and motivations —> lowering internal validity

• greater objectivity —> increasing internal validity

general evaluation

• observer bias —> select what to include in their checklist and have pre existing ideas about those behaviours

• researcher may experience expectancy effect —> see what they expect to see

event sampling

record how many times a certain behaviour occurs in a set amount of time

time sampling

record what behaviours are occurring at different time intervals

operationalised observer checklist

• specific categories that can be ticked each time a behaviour occurs

• produce quantitive data

• clear description of behaviours so there aren’t different interpretations

• trained to use checklist

• inter-observer-reliability —> all observers agree