PS300 Research Methods

1. PS300 Research Methods Unit 4: Observational Research Prof. Abby Ngwako, M.Ed.

2. Objectives • Observation methods • Direct observation with intervention • Subject reactivity • Testing your understanding • Reminders for Unit 4 Assignments

3. Observational methods • Direct Observation • Observe without intervention • Observe with intervention • Indirect Observation • Physical Traces • Archival Records

4. Direct Observation with intervention • Participant observation • observers play dual role • Undisguised participant observation • Structured observation • Observer intervenes • Often used by developmental psychologists • In between naturalistic and control of laboratory methods • Field Experiment • Manipulates or controls one or more variables in natural setting to determine its effect on behavior • Often used in social psychology • Use of confederates

5. Subject Reactivity • Reactivity-Presence of an observer that can make subjects change their normal behavior. • How so individuals know what their behavior should be like in a observation? • How can it be prevented? • What about using disguised participant observation? Hidden cameras? Webcams? Are they ethical?

6. Testing your understanding • When a researcher plays an active and significant role in the situation in which behavior is being recorded and when the researcher conceals the fact that the observations are being made, this study represents an deceptive naturalistic observation. True or False? • Researchers who use structured observation to assess a child’s cognitive abilities risk failure to follow similar procedures each time an observation is made and may make it difficult for other observers to obtain similar results. True or False? • Researchers conducted a study on invasion of personal space. A confederate of the researcher sat on a public bench and either stared at a person passing by or read a newspaper as the person passed by. An observer recorded whether the person passing by looked away from where the confederate was sitting. This would be a naturalistic observation. True or False? • Advice columnists only print a small fraction of the letters they receive. A researcher who analyzes the content of these archival records of printed letters should be aware of the problem of natural treatments. True of False?

7. Testing your understanding • The primary reason why Rosenhan(1973) used participant observation to study psychiatric diagnosis in context of a mental institution by having “pseudopatients” seek admission was to gain access to a situation or event that is generally not open to scientific investigation. True or False? • Structured observation method represents a middle ground between passive nonintervention and the systematic control and manipulation of variables in laboratory methods. True or False? • Researchers were doing a long-term study of children’s relationships with their parent in the homes of their families. Before beginning to collect data the observers visited each home for a few times and set up their recording equipment and did taping just as they would do in the data collection phase of their study. These early visits to the home were done to reduce reactivity and would be called the disguised observation technique. True or False? • Students who were doing a naturalistic observation to study whether people arriving at the library alone would be more likely to hold the door open for a person coming in immediately after them than would people who arrive in pairs. The students made their observations look through the window of a classroom building across from the library to avoid the potential problem of observer bias. True or False?

8. Reminders: Unit 4 • Please respond to both discussions with at least 2 peer responses or more for each discussion. • Don’t forget to participate actively throughout the unit in discussion and utilize at least one source to support you response • Please submit project to Unit 4 project dropbox and make sure formatted in Word document in proper APA.

9. References Orne, M.T. (1962). On the social psychology of the psychological experiment. With particular reference to demand characteristics and their implications. American Psychologist, 17, 776-783. Rosenhan, D.L. (1973). On being sane in insane places. Science, 179, 250-258. Simons, D.J. & Levin, D.T. (1998). Failure to detect changes in people during a real world interaction. Psychonomic Bulletin and Review, 5, 644-649. Zechmeister, J.S., Zechmeister, E.B., & Shaughnessy, J.J. (2001). Essentials of Research Methods in Psychology. New York: McGraw Hill.