Obervations in psychology Flashcards
(21 cards)
What are observations?
watching and recording peoples behaviours.
6 different types of observations based on participant awarness, locaiton and researchers involvment.
What is a structured observation?
Takes place in some form of controlled environment, with controlled variables. Does not HAVE to be in a lab, and can be any environment where the experimenter has control.
smth is arranged to happen rather than happening unexpectedly
Why do psychologists use observations?
To study natural behaviour in a natural setting
can also study behaviours that are unethical to be manipulated.
what is Naturalistic Observation
Takes place in the participants natural environment.
In most cases participants in a naturalistic environment are not aware they are being observed. High ecological validity- naturalistic.
Children in a playground being observed in natural state.
what is overt (open) obersvation?
Participants know they are being observed and why, and have given informed consent beforehand.
A KHDA observing a classroom.
what is covert (under cover) observation?
Participants are unaware that they are the focus of study and their behavior is observed in secret. Takes place because if people are knowingly observed- they are likely to change behavior (demand characteristics). Ethical issues like consent as participants didn’t agree to be observed, deception as aim is not met and right to withdraw as they are unaware they are taking part.
cctv camera
what is participant observation?
Observer acts as part of it or is involved In the group being watched. This is so participants don’t suspect that they are being observed as they could change their behavior. The researched will also gain more insight into the behavior- which is why they are integrated. They are actually a PART OF IT.
eg police going undercover ingang
what is non participant observation?
The observer watches and records people without being actively involved. The researched experimenter remains separate from those they are studying. They watch from side lines and record behavior in an objective way. This is because sometimes be impractical./inappropriate or even impossible. Can be covert or overt.
EG STUDYING FOOTBALL TEAM praticving from side
strenght + weakeness of naturalistic observation?
GOOD= High external validity, with results being generalized to everyday life
BAD= Lack of control over research situation makes replication difficult (uncontrolled extraneous variables). Also lack of ethics.
strenght + weakness of structured observation?
GOOD: Can control extraneous variables, and control what you want to, replication of observation easier.
BAD: Findings are not as easily applied to real life- meaning low ecological validity.
strneght weakness of covert observation?
GOOD: Behavior is more natural, no observer effects and therefore increased internal validity
BAD: Ethical issues, only acceptable for public not private. No consent or right to withdraw.
strenght + weakness of overt observation?
GOOD: More ethical, participants have given consent and researcher can see everything.
BAD: Participants are more likely to behave differently if they know they’re being watched so lacks internal validity.
strenght + weakness of participant ovservation?
GOOD: researchers can experience the situation from participants view, increasing internal validity and more realistic results.
BAD: Researchers may come to identify too strongly with those they are studying, and lose objectivity. Also observer bias, as observer interprets behavior from their own beliefs and values/ subjective and lacks internal validity. It is difficult to record behavior discretely.
strnehgt + weakness of non participant obervation?
GOOD: Researcher can be more objective if they are standing back from the observed group- reducing observer bias.
BAD: Researcher may miss special insights into behavior that can only be gained from the inside.
How is data collected in unstructered obseerrvation?
direct observation
write down everything they see
form of transcript
good as it produced qualtitative data which imporves validity
but bad as there can be observer bias and questions reliabiality.
how data collected in structured obervation?
pre deterimined list for behaviours…
eg collection grid for behaviours (like how many times smth happens)
eliminated research bias
but less detail
what are behavioural categories?
to produce a record thats structured of what researches see./hear… you break down the target behaviour into sets.
they should be defines and specific and should not overlap.
for example “affection” can be broken into hugging, kissing, smiling, holding hands.
psychologists should ensure they have all the ways that target behaviour may occur.
what is sampling like in observations?
⏱️ Time Sampling
What it is: Observe and record behaviour at regular time intervals (e.g. every 5 mins).
Useful for: Ongoing behaviours over time.
Risk: Might miss behaviours that happen in between intervals.
📋 Event Sampling
What it is: Count the number of times a specific behaviour happens.
Example: Count how often students say “please,” “thank you,” or raise their hands in a lesson.
Useful for: Behaviours that happen infrequently (e.g. shouting, arguments).
Limitation: If the behaviour is complex, observer might miss key details.
how to improve reliability on obsrvations?
make sure behaviour checklist clearly defined and easy to inrepret
video cameras so ppl can watch behaviour again
more than one ovsever
what is inter-observer/inter-rater reliability?
Interater reliability is when more than one oberrver is anaylysing the behaviour and independently interpreting, and afterwards they compare the results/in the same way. This reduces the chance of observer bias and improves the valididty of the results.
how do we improve validity in observations?
make sure observer not biased
repeat on diff days w diff ppl
do it in naturalistic setting
