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Key terms YOU need to know about observations

Key terms YOU need to know about observations. DEFINITIONS. To observe secretly, so your participants do not know they are being watched. Using observation to watch what participants do as a result of an experiment you have set up.

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Key terms YOU need to know about observations

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  1. Key terms YOU need to know about observations

  2. DEFINITIONS

  3. To observe secretly, so your participants do not know they are being watched

  4. Using observation to watch what participants do as a result of an experiment you have set up

  5. Two or more observers agree on the scoring of the behaviours being studied

  6. To turn a concept into precise definitions of observable, measurable behaviours

  7. To observe a group by joining that group and observing ‘from within’

  8. Making a note of what is happening at every point on a given timescale

  9. Observing by looking at second-hand data, eg TV ads or newspaper articles

  10. To do an observation where your participants know that you are watching and making notes

  11. A list of items to look out for when conducting an observation

  12. Recording every time a particular behaviour is observed

  13. Coding behaviours by being physically present wherever your participants are – observing ‘live’

  14. Using observation as the only method of studying your participants

  15. To observe a group without becoming a part or member of that group

  16. EXAMPLES

  17. A psychologist wants to find out whether belonging to the WI improves your levels of self-esteem. She becomes a member of her her local group, makes some jam on jam-making night, attends all the talks, and makes friends with lots of the group members.

  18. A professor wants to discover whether students communicate less with the people they are with if they have their mobile phones with them. She sits at the back of sixth form lessons for a week but does not interact with her participants.

  19. Erving Goffman, in his study of mental hospitals, worked in an asylum for the mentally ill as Assistant Athletic Director. Only a couple of staff knew why he was there, and via this method he was able to uncover the 'unofficial reality' of life in a mental institution.

  20. A researcher decides to study biker gangs and their alcohol habits. She asks a local chapter of the Hell’s Angels if she can follow them around for a month, making notes about their drinking routines on a pad and using a video camera.

  21. STUDY TO INVESTIGATE NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION

  22. Two observers collecting data means that you can be more sure that behaviours are being interpreted consistently, and your data will be less subjective

  23. Dr Nohow wants to investigate whether heat affects people’s mood. He sets up a sauna and gets half his Ps to watch a weepie movie in it. He watches through the window how they behave. The other half watch the film in an igloo he has created while he makes notes about what they do.

  24. Prof. Bighead wants to investigate people’s eating habits whilst they are shopping. She collects her data by standing in a shopping centre watching the Saturday crowds but does not interfere in any way or collect any other type of data as well

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