Term
| What is a participant observation? |
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Definition
| An observation where the researcher is part of the group being watched |
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Term
| Why are non-participant observations most often used in child psychology? |
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Definition
| Children act differently when they are alone or around other children than they do around adults. |
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Term
| What is a naturalistic observation? |
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Definition
| One that takes place in a natural setting, with no influence from the researcher |
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Term
| What is a structured observation? |
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Definition
| One that takes place somewhere that variables can be controlled or manipulated. |
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Term
| Why are structured observations more common than naturalistic ones? |
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Definition
| They save time because behaviour can be prompted instead of the researcher having to wait for it. |
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Term
| What two things must be decided in advance before a structured observation? |
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Definition
| The behaviour that will be observed and the sample. |
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Term
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Definition
| When behaviour is recorded at intervals, such as for 30 seconds every 5 minutes. |
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Term
| What is the advantage of time sampling? |
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Definition
| Behaviour is not being recorded all the time so the researcher is less likely to miss something |
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Term
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Definition
| When a tally chart records the number of times a certain type of behaviour occurs. |
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Term
| What is the advantage of naturalistic observations? |
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Definition
| They are more ecologically valid because the researcher has minimal influence. |
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Term
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Definition
| When the observer's attention drifts from what they planned to watch. |
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Term
| When is observer drift most likely? |
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Definition
| In a naturalistic observation |
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Term
| What are the disadvantages of naturalistic observations? |
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Definition
| Hard to establish cause and effect, observer drift, hard to replicate and determine reliability due to natural setting |
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Term
| What are the advantages of structured observations? |
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Definition
| Time and cost effective, don't have to wait for behaviour to occur naturally, can be repeated so is more reliable. |
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Term
| What are the weaknesses of structured observations? |
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Definition
| May be demand characteristics and has low ecological validity. |
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