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OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES - Coggle Diagram
OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES
Overt
- Open; people are aware they are being watched
- No ethical issues as participants are aware + questions can be asked
- Hawthorne effect = people are aware they are being watched so alter their behaviour
Structured
- Design a type of coding scheme to record their behaviour.
- Structured observations generally provide quantitative data (numberical)
- More likely to produce quantitative data which makes it easier to analyse + compare + smaller risk of observer bias
- Results aren't as in depth/detailed + some behaviours the researcher records may not be important
Unstructured
- Recording the behaviour they can see
- This can be difficult without the use of recording equipment (such as a video camera)
- Requires training – which can take time and money
- Can be difficult to analyse but does provide rich qualitative data (writing, non-numerical data).
- More detailed results because everything they see is being recorded - qualitative data
- Greater risk of observer bias as there are no behavioural categories + qualitative data = time consuming
Covert
- Undercover; people are not always aware they're being watched
- Participants unaware so their behaviour is more natural
- Ethical issues in covert observations:acceptable to observe in a public place as long as behaviours are not private e.g. Kissing boyfriend
Participant
- Participant observation is where a researcher sets up and takes part in the observational study
- Participant observation – get an insight into what its like to be in the middle of the action
- The researcher can obtain in-depth data as they are in close proximity to the participants + so are unlikely to overlook/miss any behaviours
- The researchers' presence might influence the participants' behaviour due to evaluation apprehension
Non-participant
- Non-participant observation is where the researcher sets up but does not take part in the observational study. They observe participants at a distance
- Non-participant will be more objective as the researcher is not part of the study
- Investigator effects + evaluation apprehension are less likely as the researcher is not visible
- Due to a lack of proximity the researcher might overlook or miss behaviours of interest
Controlled observation
- Reduces the ‘naturalness’ of the environment and therefore the ‘naturalness’ of the behaviour
- Participants may know they are being observed
- Some variables are regulated by the researcher
- E.G. Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment
- Some variables are controlled by the researcher.
- Can investigate cause and effect
- Can be replicated to check reliability, as the researcher is in control of variables + therefore can repeat the method as they wish
- Low ecological validity as the researcher records behaviors in an artificial (manipulated) environment, with potential outside interference from the researcher
Naturalistic observation
- Record the behaviours of your research subjects in real-world settings
- Ecological validity - behaviour is natural + there are no demand characteristics as the participant is unaware of being observed
- Extraneous variables- can't control variables that may affect behaviour