Observational Design

Question 1

Issues with observational designs - structured and unstructured

Answer 1

Structured observation = simplify the target behaviours that will be the main focus of the investigation using beh catagories

Unstructured observation = researcher writes down everything they see, in great detail; small scale, few pts

Question 2

Behavioural categories

Answer 2

• break the beh into set of behavioural categories
• the target behaviours that are studied need to be precisely defined and made observable and measurable

Inter-observer reliability = reduce bias and single observers missing information - compare the data between them for consistency

Question 3

Sampling methods

Answer 3

Event sampling = counting the number of times a particular beh occurs in the target individual / group

Time sampling = recording beh within a pre-established time frame

Question 4

Evaluate Structured vs unstructured

Answer 4

Structured:
-> quantitative data is recorded due to the beh categories which make it more systematic

Unstructured:
-> more qualitative, more difficult to analyse
-> depth of detail is high in data
-> greater risk of observer bias; researcher may only record beh that catches their eye

Question 5

Evaluate behavioural catagories

Answer 5

-> catagories need to be clear and objective
-> easy to distinguish between, otherwise it will be too complex

Question 6

Evaluate sampling methods

Answer 6

Event sampling
-> useful when the target behaviour happens quite infrequently and could be missed if time sampling was used
-> if the event is too complex the observer may overlook important details

Time sampling
-> effective in reducing the number of observations made
-> however when beh is recorded it may be unrepresentative of the observation as a whole