Descriptive Research: Research methods - How to do the “observation” part

1. Naturalistic Observations 2. Surveys 3. Case Studies 4. Experiments

 Naturalistic observations involve WATCHING and RECORDING behaviour of organisms in their NATURAL ENVIRONMENT.  Ex. watching the interactions between young children at pre-school.  Ex. observing chimpanzee societies in the jungle.

 When psychologists observe behaviour, they do so very SYSTEMATICALLY by recording  How often the behaviours occur.  The time that behaviours occur.  The conditions under which these behaviours occur.  The context or environment where they occur.

 One problem with naturalistic observations is that people often alter or change the way they behave when they know they are being watched.  Naturalistic observations DO NOT EXPLAIN behaviour (why do preschool children like to act out make-believe scenarios), they simply DESCRIBE BEHAVIOUR (preschool children like to act out make- believe scenarios).

 The survey is a research method that involves looking at many cases in LESS DEPTH than the case study. A survey simply asks people to report on their BEHAVIOURS and OPINIONS.  It is difficult to think of a question that surveys researchers have not asked  Ex. 89% of people in the USA say that they have high stress.  Ex. 96% say there is something about their appearance they would like to change.

 The questions are clear and unbiased.  Those surveyed answer HONESTLY  The people who answer the questions represent the total group being studied = A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE  Ex. If you want to find out if people at Panorama Ridge have high stress, you must ensure that the people you survey are REPRESENTATIVE of our school’s total population. To obtain a REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE we would randomly ask a number of people to complete our survey. This procedure is called RANDOM SAMPLING.  Surveys do not explain behaviour or opinions, they DESCRIBE them.

 Saying vs. Doing  Many opinion polls ask the people they are surveying for their intentions; what they think they would do in a situation. Intentions do not always translate into an action.  Ex. Would you consider eating a chocolate covered ant?

 The wording of survey questions  Wording of questions can produce biased results especially on emotionally charged issues.  Ex. Do you favour “prohibiting abortions” – majority was opposed.  But when worded differently: do you favour “protecting the life of an unborn child” – 20% changed their opinions.

 Social Desirability Bias  Because we don’t want to appear biased or prejudiced or less desirable, what we say on surveys doesn’t always reflect how we actually act.  Ex. “how much beer do you think you drink?” – only 15% of people surveyed even admitted to drinking beer. The maximum amount admitted was 8 cans per week.  Investigators went through their garbage and found beer cans in the garbage’s of 77% of the homes and more than half of these had in access of 8 cans. The average number of cans was 15 which raises some serious ethical questions.

 A case study is the intensive investigation of one person (as in a therapy situation) or one instance of some phenomenon (ex. the experience of “phantom limbs”.) Case Studies Include:  Specific details about a person, an event or a phenomenon.  Who, what, where, when and how but NOT the why (case studies describe but they cannot explain behaviour).  Usually focus on something atypical (out of the ordinary)

Goal:  By looking at one case study in detail, researchers hope to discover general principles. If many case studies are used to compare, then the conclusion about the case study is likely to be more RELIABLE.

Limitations:  We may not be able to apply or generalize our findings about one person to explain the behaviour of all people.  Case studies can never explain the causes of behaviour, they help us to DESCRIBE behaviour.