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Flashcards in METHODS - observation Deck (27)
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1
Q

observational techniques

A

a way of seeing/listening to what people do without asking them. often used as a way of assessing DV

pos - can capture unexpected behaviour, act differently to how they say they will in self-report methods, insight into spontaneous behaviour

neg - risk of observer bias, interpretation of situation may be affected by expectations, can be reduced by using one or more observers

2
Q

naturalistic

A

takes place where the target behaviour would normally occur

3
Q

strength of naturalistic

A

high external validity - natural context so behaviour more likely to be spontaneous, more generalisable

4
Q

weakness of naturalistic

A

low control - may be uncontrolled EVs, more difficult to detect patterns

5
Q

controlled

A

some control/manipulation of variables including control of EVs

6
Q

strength of controlled

A

can be replicated - standardised procedures, findings can be checked to see if they occur again

7
Q

weakness of controlled

A

low external validity - behaviour may be contrived as a result of the setting, findings cannot be applied to everyday experience

8
Q

covert

A

ppts unaware they are being studied

9
Q

strength of covert

A

demand characteristics reduced - ppts do not know they are being watched so behaviour will be more natural, increases validity

10
Q

weakness of covert

A

ethically questionable - people may not want behaviour recorded, even in public, right to privacy might be affected

11
Q

overt

A

participants are aware of being studied

12
Q

strength of overt

A

more ethically acceptable - ppts have given consent to be studied, have the right to withdraw if they wish

13
Q

weakness of covert

A

demand characteristics - knowledge of being studied influences behaviour, redcues vailidy

14
Q

participant

A

the researcher becomes part of the group they are studying

15
Q

strength of participant

A

greater insight - experiences same situation as ppts do, enhances validity

16
Q

weakness of participant

A

loss of objectivity - researcher may identify too strongly with those they are studying, threatens objectivity and validity of findings

17
Q

non-participant

A

researcher remains separate from the group they are studying

18
Q

strength of non-participant

A

more objective - mainatins objective distance so less likely to be biased, increase validity

19
Q

weakness of non-participant

A

loss of insight - researcher may be too far romoved from those they are studying, reduce validity

20
Q

behavioural categories (oberservational design)

A

target behaviour to be observed should be broken up into a set of observable categories

21
Q

weaknesses of behavioural categories

A

hard to make clear and unambiguous - should be self-evident and not overlap, ‘smiling’ and ‘grinning’ would be poor categories
dustbin categories - all forms of behaviour should be in the list and not one ‘dustbin’, ‘dumped’ behaviours go unrecorded

22
Q

time sampling

A

observations are made at regular intervals

23
Q

strength of time sampling

A

reduces no. of observations - rather than recorded everything seen data is recorded at certain intervals, more structured and systematic

24
Q

weakness of time sampling

A

unrepresentative - may miss important details outside of the time frame, may not reflect whole behaviour

25
Q

event sampling

A

a target behaviour/event is recorded every time it occurs

26
Q

strength of event sampling

A

may record infrequent behaviour - still pick up behhaviours that don’t occur at reguar intervals, such behaviours could easily be missed using time sampling

27
Q

weakness of event sampling

A

complex behaviour oversimplified - if event is too complex important details may go unrecorded, may affect validity of findings