Observations

Question 1

what is a participant observation

Answer 1

the observer is a participant in the behavior being observed

Question 2

give an example of a participant observation

Answer 2

being in a bus stop que and observing behavior in the que

Question 3

give a strength of participant observation

Answer 3

you can observe behaviors and actions you can’t see from afar

Question 4

participant observation weaknesses

Answer 4

more time consuming
difficult to record data
researchers presence can cause bias in behavior

Question 5

what is a non participant observation

Answer 5

the observer is not a participant in the behavior being observed

Question 6

give an example of non participant

Answer 6

observing behavior in the queue at the bus stop from over the road

Question 7

strength of non participant

Answer 7

• researchers maintain objective view
• more natural setting - observed natural state without researchers influence
• observers can focus on observation as they have no other role to play
• easier to record data
• can carry out time sampling and event sampling and tallying more systematically

Question 8

give a weakness of non participant

Answer 8

observer may not be able to record everything
observer effects if overt

Question 9

what is a structured / controlled experiment

Answer 9

some variables are manipulated or changed by researcher

Question 10

structured strength

Answer 10

• less extraneous variables which could affect internal validity
• standardized and easy to repeat

Question 11

structured weakness

Answer 11

lacks ecological validity

Question 12

naturalistic

Answer 12

no manipulation by researcher everything is left as it should be

Question 13

naturalistic strength

Answer 13

high ecological validity
see people’s natural behsvooir

Question 14

naturalistic weakness

Answer 14

isn’t as well controlled as
harder to avoid extraneous variables

Question 15

overt

Answer 15

participants are aware they’re being observed

Question 16

overt strength

Answer 16

ethical - participants give consent

Question 17

overt weakness

Answer 17

increased observer effects
- participants may have socially desirable behsvioir

Question 18

covert

Answer 18

observations made without participants knowing

Question 19

covert strength

Answer 19

no socially desirable behavior
participants act more naturally
less socially desirable behavior
increased validity of research

Question 20

covert weakness

Answer 20

less ethical
no consent

Question 21

what is the two ways of gathering data

Answer 21

qualitative
quantitative

Question 22

what is qualitative data

Answer 22

anything that’s written or descriptive

Question 23

how is qualitative data gathered

Answer 23

asking/ recording participants opinions through non numerical methods

interviews / observations

Question 24

qualitative strength

Answer 24

more detailed than quantitative
provides context with more complex issues

Question 25

qualitative weaknesses

Answer 25

more subjective time consuming difficult to generalize

Question 26

what is quantitative data

Answer 26

any data which collects numbers

Question 27

what are the 3 different methods for gathering quantitative data

Answer 27

- behavioral categories - event sampling - time sampling

Question 28

behavioral categories

Answer 28

- separating continuous stream of actions into behavioral components - behaviors are counted

Question 29

behavioral categories example

Answer 29

aggression separated into punches, kicks

Question 30

event sampling

Answer 30

create a list of behavioral categories then tally every time one of the behaviors occurs

Question 31

example of event sampling

Answer 31

physical aggression verbal aggression

Question 32

time sampling

Answer 32

- observations are recorded at fixed regular intervals of time to not what is happening at that moment

Question 33

example of time sampling

Answer 33

10 mins , 20 mins, 30 mins

Question 34

strengths of quantitative

Answer 34

objective easy to analyze numerical data reliable less bias

Question 35

weaknesses quantitative

Answer 35

oversimplified only measured quantifiable variables misleading results if used incorrectly