designing observations, questionnaires and interviews Flashcards
(7 cards)
what is observationalised behavioral categories
observationalised behavioral categories are the specific and observable behaviors that are recorded by an observer. To do this you just take a general construct in your investigation such as driving with care and turn it into something observable like driving under the speed limit.
Behaviour categories
Behavioural categories should give the researcher a clear focus and allow them to test a hypothesis. It should allow for objective and scientific data recording and should be more reliable then other research methods.
Observer bias
When the observer knows the aim/hypothesis of a study this knowledge can influence their judgment, this can be avoided having two observers who agree on the category beforehand. If they agree on something then it has inter observer reliability. Intra observer reliability is another way to get rid of observer bias, this is when a video is recorded so it can observed several times
Time and event sampling
Time sampling- Recording all behaviours within a given timeframe such as as every 30 seconds.
Event sampling- recording every time a certain behaviour occurs
Components of a good questionnaire (1)
1) Clarity, questions should not be ambiguous so that participants know what is being asked.
2) Unbiased, there should be no leading questions and it should be taken into account socially sensitive questions may lead to social desirability bias.
3) Analysis, the questionnaires should be easy to analyse, this is easier with closed questions but they may force participants to choose answers they don’t want to.
Components of a grid questionnaire (2)
4) Filler questions, they hide the true purpose of the questionnaire reducing the chance of demand characteristics.
5) sequence, by putting the easier questions first you make the participant less anxious/defensive.
6) sampling technique, the sampling techniques could lead to a biased sample. Many questionnaires use stratified sampling.
7) Pilot study, this allows the questionnaire to be refined for later.
Interview design
An interview may be recorded by the interviewer taking written notes but this could interfere with their listening skills, and wether or not they write things down may influence what the participant says so an interview may be audio or video recorded instead. An interview can be more effective then a questionnaire as the interviewer may increase the amount of answers provided by looking interested, however they need to be aware of their non verbal communication and their listening skills and interviewers require a lot of training.
