Lecture 5a: Observational Methods

Question 1

What are the different observational research methods?

Answer 1

• naturalistic observation
• systematic observation
• case studies

Question 2

What are the different types of data collection?

Answer 2

• quantitative
• qualitative
• mixed

Question 3

What are quantitative approaches?

Answer 3

research approaches that result in numeric data that are statistically analyzed

Question 4

What are qualitative approaches?

Answer 4

research approaches that result in non-numeric data that are analyzed for meaning and/or patterns

Question 5

What is naturalistic observations?

Answer 5

a research method that involves the researcher making systematic observations in a natural setting in the real world
- qualitative or quantitative

Question 6

What are the two approaches of naturalistic observation?

Answer 6

• participant observation
• concealed observation

Question 7

What is participant observation?

Answer 7

researcher joins the community they are observing

Question 8

What is concealed observation?

Answer 8

researcher’s presence is hidden from observed group

Question 9

What are the advantages of naturalistic observations?

Answer 9

• high external validity
• rich information
• sometimes the only possible approach to use

Question 10

What are the disadvantages of naturalistic observations?

Answer 10

• lack of control
• extremely time consuming
• observer bias
• possible increased reactivity

Question 11

What are systematic observations?

Answer 11

a research method in which the researcher observes participants in a controlled setting, typically in a lab space
- quantitative

Question 12

What kind of behaviours are of interest in systematic observation and how are they trackes?

Answer 12

specific set of behaviours of interested typically coded from video and are tracked by coding schemes

Question 13

What are coding schemes?

Answer 13

sets of rules that define what behaviours to track or identify and how
- can track frequency of behaviour observed or level/degree of behaviour

Question 14

What is something that must be ensured among coders when doing a systematic observation?

Answer 14

inter-rater reliability
- need to ensure >80% agreement between coders of behaviour
- easier with extensive training of coders and high quality recordings of observations

Question 15

What are advantages of systematic observations?

Answer 15

• good external validity
• some experimental control

Question 16

What are disadvantages of systematic observations?

Answer 16

• can be time consuming
• observer bias
• increased reactivity

Question 17

What are case studies?

Answer 17

detailed descriptive observations of behaviour and/or other factors from a single individual
- qualitative

Question 18

When are case studies commonly used for?

Answer 18

common for studying rare, low frequency phenomena such as brain injuries/abnormalities, clinical diagnoses and medical diagnoses

Question 19

What are advantages of case studies?

Answer 19

• rich, detailed information
• can be used when other methods would be impossible or unethical

Question 20

What are disadvantages of case studies?

Answer 20

• low external validity
• observer (researcher) bias