Observational Techniques

Question 1

what is an observation?

Answer 1

researcher watches or listens to participants engaging in whatever behaviour is being studied

these observations are recorded

Question 2

general evaluation for observations

Answer 2

allow spontaneous and unexpected behaviour to be captured and observed

observer bias — it is difficult to be objective because what people observe is distorted by their expectations of what is likely or what they hoped to see. using more than one observer may reduce the risk of observer bias affecting the validity of observations

provide limited information — provide information about what people actually do but do not provide information about what people think or feel

Question 3

6 types of observational techniques

Answer 3

naturalistic

controlled

overt

covert

participant

non participant

Question 4

naturalistic observation

Answer 4

observation conducted in everyday, natural settings that are normal to the participants

everything has been left as it would be normally and the researcher does not interfere in any way, they simply observe

EXAMPLE = watching an infant play in their normal environment which may their nursery

Question 5

naturalistic observation evaluation

Answer 5

• gives a realistic and reflective view of natural behaviour in natural environments, thus it is likely to be high in ecological validity which makes it easier to generalise
• avoids researcher bias
• not all variables can be controlled which may mean something unknown to the observer may account for the behaviour observed which reduces the internal validity

Question 6

controlled observation

Answer 6

may be in a laboratory

some variables are controlled and regulated by the researcher which reduces the naturalness of the environment and the naturalness or the participants’ behaviour

participants are likely to know they’re being studied (overt observation)

Question 7

controlled observation evaluation

Answer 7

• variables can be controlled which increases the internal validity and allows researchers to investigate the effect of certain things on behaviour e.g. Bandura’s Bobo Doll study
• unnatural environment which may result in unnatural behaviour from the participants, leading to the findings lacking ecological validity

Question 8

overt observation

Answer 8

obvious observation in which the participants are aware that they’re being observed

researchers try to be an unobtrusive as possible but this type of observation is still likely to affect how natural the participant’s behaviour is

may use one way mirrors so they are hidden from view

Question 9

overt observation evaluation

Answer 9

• may result in unnatural behaviour because if a participant knows they’re being observed, they are likely to alter their behaviour
• easier to gain consent

Question 10

covert observation

Answer 10

hidden observations in which the participants are unaware they’re being observed

unaware before and during the study but may be informed afterwards

Question 11

covert observation evaluation

Answer 11

• more natural behaviour as they are unaware they are being observed so would behave as they usually would, leads to high ecological validity
• ethical issues — lack of informed consent as they’re unaware they’re being observed. but it is acceptable to observe people in a public place as long as the behaviours being observed are not private ones

Question 12

participant observation

Answer 12

the researcher is observing while taking part in the task alongside the group being observed

the researcher may be acting as a participant and the real participants may be unaware of this

Question 13

participant observation evaluation

Answer 13

• provides special insight into behaviour from inside the group that may not otherwise be gained by observing from a distance
• more likely to be overt, issues of unnatural behaviour as they’re aware they’re being observed but it’s its covert then there are issues of deception
• being part of the group being observed may affect the observer’s objectivity

Question 14

non participant observation

Answer 14

the research observes from a distance and doesn’t interact with the participants — they are separated

Question 15

non participant observation

Answer 15

• unnatural behaviour if participants are aware of observation
• harder to gain accurate results when observing from a distance
• likely to be more objective because the observer is not part of the group being observed

Question 16

what is inter-observer reliability?

Answer 16

the extent to which there is agreement between two or more observers involved in the observation of a behaviour

observations should be consistent and reliable which means that ideally two observers should produce the same results

a general rule is that if there is more than 80% agreement on the observations the data has high inter observer reliability

Question 17

what is observer bias?

Answer 17

when observers’ expectations affect what they see or hear

this reduces the validity of the observations

Question 18

case study: observation in Bandura’s Bobo Doll Study

Answer 18

the behaviour of the children was observed at the end to determine how aggressive they were

the toys were arranged in a fixed order for each child

the experimenter sat and worked quietly in the corner while the child played for 20 minutes

the child was observed through a one-way mirror by another researcher and a second observer was present for half of the participants and recorded his observations independently — this enabled inter observer reliability to be calculated

the observers did not know which condition the child had participated in, they simply recorded what the child was doing every five seconds and sorted this into categories such as imitative aggression responses, partially imitative responses and non-imitative aggressive responses

an aggression score was then produced for each child