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descriptive observation

Naturalistic Observations. Directly observe behavior in natural environments"field research". Often first step in research on a phenomenon, frequently exploratory.Must: decide which behaviors are important, identify a classification system create protocol for deciding what behaviors count.Interobserver reliability Correlate observations of two people independently watching the same behaviors..

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descriptive observation

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    1. DESCRIPTIVE OBSERVATION Cannot infer cause-effect relationships. Much research in psychology can be classified as "descriptive observation," that is, empirical data that have been obtained from systematic observation. This section describes several examples of observational research and discusses issues to insure the reliability and validity of these observations. Much research in psychology can be classified as "descriptive observation," that is, empirical data that have been obtained from systematic observation. This section describes several examples of observational research and discusses issues to insure the reliability and validity of these observations.

    3. The Case Study Intensive observations of a single individual over time. Often by clinicians. deviant-case analysis. Use another individual as the "control" to “guess” what causes the deviance in the case of interest. e.g., compare a brain-damaged patient to a control.

    4. Survey Research large sample of individuals given a questionnaire or interview. E.g., frequency of alcohol use at MSU by measuring alcohol-related behaviors in a sample of students. Good survey development is a complex process appropriate scale to use construction of individual scale items, protocols for administering and scoring the survey. sample representativeness is ideal May need to use “stratified” sample Proportions in sample match proportions in population.

    5. Meta-analysis Statistical technique for assessing generality of a particular empirical relationship. combine multiple studies investigating same effect. Look for "real" effects when all studies are combined. Also yields info about "effect size." Major Problem: “garbage-in, garbage out”

    6. ADVANTAGES OF OBSERVATION useful in the early stages of research. Sometimes experiments can’t be done for practical or ethical reasons Observed relationships can inductively lead to theories to be tested experimentally. high in external validity extent to which setting is similar to "real world."

    7. SOURCES OF ERROR IN OBSERVATION Does not allow inferences about cause-effect relationships. Do not have control over extraneous variables. Thus, Descriptive Research is low on internal validity. Also, tendency to anthropomorphize often hard to resist. attributing human characteristics to animals or inanimate objects.

    8. Reactivity in Descriptive Research Humans react to process of being observed Could lead to altered behavior. “Social Desirability." S’s may exhibit more socially desirable behavior than usual. Also, people try to guess the researcher's hypothesis. May then try to behave in accord or against hypothesis. Demand Characteristics Clues that suggest the purpose of the study. “demand" a particular response from the participant.

    9. Response Styles "habits," or biases people exhibit when completing self-report measures… response acquiescence ("yea-saying,") response deviation ("nea-saying") social desirability. forced-choice tests solves these problems forces person to choose between two equally-desirable alternatives for each question. “Volunteer problem" (the differences between people who volunteer for research and those who don't) threat to the representativeness of the sample. Providing incentives for people to participate helps.

    10. Volunteer problem Differences between people who volunteer for research and those who don't. threat to the representativeness of the sample. Providing incentives for participation helps.

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