Observation

1. Observation • The research method we are going to look at today

2. Observation • The starting point for scientific enquiry is observation. • We observe what is going on and try to make sense of it.

3. Types of observation • All empirical research (e.g. lab experiments) involves some observation, but here “observation” refers to the direct recording of relatively unconstrained behaviour. • Observation can be carried out in the field, with behaviour occurring in an everyday setting (naturalistic observation) • Or it can be conducted under controlled conditions, such as an observation room. This is called controlled observation.

4. Naturalistic Observations • Definition • Watching the behaviour of humans or animals in a natural environment. • The researcher does not manipulate the variables and does not interfere with things- they try to remain inconspicuous. • Example. Rosenhan(1973) Pseudo patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals and treatment by hospital staff observed. • In participant observation the observer acts as part of the group being watched. .

5. Designing naturalistic observations • You will need to be systematic, observations may be either structured or unstructured. • Structured observation: Uses tables of pre-determined categories of behaviour and systematic sampling. • Ways of sampling in structured observational studies: • Time sampling: Observations may be made at regular time intervals and coded. • Event sampling:Keep a tally chart of each time a type of behaviour occurs. • Pointsampling: Focus on one individual at a time for set period of time.

6. Unstructured Observations • Unstructured observations: Record everything that happens. It may be difficult to avoid bias by focusing on what you want or expect to see happening, in theory all observations are noted as anything could prove to be important. • May use a diarymethod to record events, feelings, or moods. • Video /DVD recording: This is useful as behaviour may be analysed in more detail later.

7. Strengths of Naturalistic observations • More natural behaviour occurs if people are unaware of observation. Able to capture spontaneous and unexpected behaviour. • Studying of animals that cannot be observed in captivity. • Study of situations that cannot be artificially set up. • What people say they do is often different from what they actually do, so observations give a different take on behaviour

8. Weaknesses • Observer may affect behaviour if detected. • Difficult to replicate - cannot control extraneous variables. • Need for more than one observer. • Observers may “see” what they expect to see (observer bias) • If participants don’t know they are being observed there are ethical problems such as deception and invasion of privacy

9. Controlled observations • When observation is carried out in a laboratory or an observation room some of the conditions are controlled by the researcher. • Often reduces the naturalness of the behaviour being recorded. • Examples from the Core studies that used a controlled observation are; Bandura and Milgram

10. Distinctions • Participant and non participant. • In many cases the observer is merely watching the behaviour of others and acts as a non-participant. In some studies observers also participate, which may affect their objectivity. • Direct and indirect. • In some studies observations of human behaviour are made indirectly – of data that has already been collected e.g. observing ads on the T.V. or in newspapers. • Disclosed and undisclosed (overt and covert) • One way mirrors can be used to prevent participants being aware they are being observed. This is called undisclosed or covert observation, This method was used in the study by Bandura on aggression.

11. Reliability • The term reliability refers to how consistent any measurement is. • When making observations we require the observations to be something we can rely on. • If they are reliable we would expect to end up with the same data even if the observations were made by a different person. • Two observers should produce the same record, this is called inter rater reliability.

12. Validity • Validity is the extent to which the research has measured what it intended to measure. • When making observations the main issue is observer bias – what someone observes is influenced by expectations • For example, if you think football fans tend to be quite aggressive this may lead you to “see” more aggression than an observer who believes the opposite.

13. Sampling Observational data • An observer needs to decide when and how often to make observations. This may be continuous, where the observation records every instance of behaviour in as much detail as possible. • This is useful if the behaviours of interest do not occur very often. Usually continuous observation is not possible because of there may be too much to record. Therefore observers use a systematic method such as:

14. Strengths of various sampling techniques • Event sampling • The observer keeps a count of each time that a particular behaviour occurs • Useful when behaviour to be recorded only happens occasionally and might be missed if time sampling used. • Time sampling • The observer decides on a time interval such as a minute, 5 minutes etc At the end of the time interval the observer notes any particular behaviours that are being displayed by the target individual. Reduces the number of observations by using an objective means of sampling. The danger is observations may not be representative.

15. Content analysis • Content analysis make indirect observations of behaviour by looking at the content of communications produce by people in the various media.

16. Ethical issues • When participants are observed without their knowledge they clearly do not have the opportunity to provide informed consent. • One way to deal with this is to debrief the participants afterwards, explaining the aims of the procedures and asking permission to use their data • Some observations may be regarded as an invasion of privacy. It is only acceptable to observe others without their consent in situations where participants would expect to be observed by strangers.

17. Summary • Observations are able to capture spontaneous and unexpected behaviour. • They are a means of conducting preliminary investigations in a new area of research, to produce hypotheses for future observations • BUT observers may “see” what they expect to see (observer bias) • Poorly designed behaviour checklist reduces reliability ( low inter rater reliability)

18. Discussion • How can we be sure that what we have observed is both reliable and valid?