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OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES - Coggle Diagram
OBSERVATIONAL TECHNIQUES
Naturalistic observation
- No independent variable, which means you cannot demonstrate causal relationships
- E.g. observing a child in nursery that the infant is used to
- Natural setting
- Everything left as it is normally – researcher does not interfere with what is happening
Strengths:
- We can observe naturally occurring unrestrained behaviour
- Behaviour unaffected by anxiety or a need to impress
- High in ecological validity
Weaknesses: - Less control over extraneous variables
- Observer training costly + lengthy
- If coding system is too rigid (not able to record interesting + relevant behaviour)
Observation as a method
- Can give rich information and unexpected results - suggesting new avenues for future research
- A picture is provided of real life in a naturalistic setting
- Researcher intrudes very little into situation
- Situations not replicable in laboratory can be examined (weddings, behaviors in bars)
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Disadvantages:
- The “who” may be poor sample
- Observation too short or too long?
- Time consuming and labor-intensive
- Observer bias – difficult for the observer to be objective, what they observe may be distorted by what they expect to see
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