Observations

Question 1

What are behavioural categories ?

Answer 1

The target behaviour is broken down into smaller parts that can be checked/measured.
Means to check that all the researchers interpret the behaviours in the same way.
Time consuming - Can take time to develop the behavioural categories.

Example - Aggression - Shouting - shaking fist

Provides a structured record - Good data storage - makes analysis easier.

Question 2

What is Inter-rater reliability ?

Answer 2

Observations are carried out by 2 or more other observers.
How much multiple raters agree on their assessments of the same behaviour.

Reduce researcher bias
Effective with behavioural categories
Generalisable - if multiple agree - consistent in target population.

Observers need training - costly/time inefficient

Question 3

What is continuous sampling ?

Answer 3

Recording all instances of the target behaviour
observing and recording every occurrence and duration of a specific behavior throughout a defined period.

All occurrences recorded: Every instance of the behavior, no matter how short or frequent, is noted.

Continuous observation: The observer monitors the ppts continuously for the duration of the observation period.

Detailed behavioral description: The method allows for a comprehensive record of the behavior, including its duration and frequency.

Question 4

What is time sampling ?
Hint - intervals

Answer 4

Recording what is seen within a fixed time frame (Intervals)
Monitoring certain points
Reduces the number of observations that need to be made.
May be unrepresentative of the whole observation (something may happen during the time that observer not observing).

Good if large amounts of data needed to be observed (allows breaks - not miss something)

Question 5

What is event sampling ?

Answer 5

Pre-established target behaviour - Everytime the behaviour is observed it is recorded.
Useful for frequent behaviours that can be missed.
Complex behaviours may get reduced to one aspect

Counting frequency of certain behaviours within a given time frame.
(How many times a child raises hand in class)
(when that behaviour is done its recorded)