observations

Question 1

what is an observation?

Question 2

what are the different types of observations?

Answer 2

• Naturalistic or controlled
• Structured or unstructured
• Participant or non-participant
• Overt or covert

Question 3

what is a naturalistic observation?

Answer 3

behaviour is studied in a natural situation where everything has been
left as it normally is

Question 4

what is a controlled observation?

Answer 4

• some variables are controlled by the researcher, reducing the naturalness of the behaviour being studied.
• participants are likely to know that they are being observed and the study may take place in a lab

Question 5

what is an overt observation?

Answer 5

participants are aware that they are being observed

Question 6

what is a covert observation?

Answer 6

participants are unaware that they are being observed

Question 7

what is a participant observation?

Answer 7

• when the researcher participates in the activity under study
• it may be difficult for the observer to record everything as they have to wait for an opportune moment to write down their observations. however, they may gain a deeper insight into behaviour.

Question 8

what is a non-participant observation?

Answer 8

• when the researcher observes the activity without getting involved
• in a non-participant observation, it is easier to record data and the observer can remain unbiased.

Question 9

what is an unstructured observation?

Answer 9

• the researcher will record all relevant behaviour but has no system.
• This is because the behaviour that is being studied may be unpredictable. An unstructured observation may be the first step in an investigation, and the results may be used to create a coding system for further structured observations.
• The majority of the data collected in an unstructured observation will therefore be qualitative

Question 10

what is a structured observation?

Answer 10

when the researcher has a system that is used to record behaviour.

they will use a coding system to tally the number of times a behaviour occurs, and he will also use various sampling procedures to decide what to observe and when.

Question 11

what is a coding system?

Answer 11

when behaviour is operationalised by being broken into different categories.

Question 12

sampling procedures in observations

Answer 12

in a continuous observation, the observer should record every instance of the behaviour being studied. However, in practicality, there would be too much
data to record, so therefore there needs to be a systematic method of sampling.
* event and time sampling

Question 13

event sampling

Answer 13

counting each time a particular behaviour is observed

Question 14

time sampling

Answer 14

recording data at particular intervals
e.g. what is an individual doing every 30 seconds?

Question 15

strengths of natural observations

Answer 15

high in ecological validity