AS Psychology Observation

AS Psychology By the end of this lesson you should... Have an overview of observation as a research method Be able to describe structured and unstructured observations Be able to discuss event and time sampling

AS Psychology Observe someone in the room and note down everything that person does. Don’t forget that YOU could be observed by someone else! Have you noted just what they do with their hands? What about their faces, eyes, feet? Consider the problems you might have if you had to make some assumptions about that person based on your observations. Can you make any assumptions about that person from your observations?

AS Psychology What did you find? Group discussion

AS Psychology Ethics…. What do you think is wrong with this observation? Researchers go into a block of men’s toilets. The personal space of the men using the urinal was ‘invaded’ by a researcher using either the urinal next to the participant or the urinal further away from the participant. A researcher in a nearby cubicle used a periscope and stopwatch to time the participant’s urination.

AS Psychology Types of observation Unstructured observation: The researcher records ALL relevant behaviour but has no system Structured observation: The researcher records observed behaviours according to preset behavioural categories

AS Psychology Types of observation Unstructured Record ALL the behaviour you think is relevant in the following observations…

AS Psychology Using the unstructured observations, let’s draw up a BEHAVIOUR CHECKIST to allow us to conduct a structured observation… Points Hand gestures …..etc

AS Psychology Types of observation Structured Use the behaviour checklist to record behaviours in the following observations…

AS Psychology Structured observation Observations should: Be objective – just record the data. Don’t make inferences about it Cover all elements of behaviour. No “other” category Avoid overlap – each category should record only ONE behaviour

AS Psychology Observation in general: Strengths Can capture unexpected or spontaneous behaviour Makes a good starting point for further research – can give a hypothesis to test Captures what people actually do, not what they say they do or would do

AS Psychology Observation in general: Weaknesses Observer Bias – you may see what you want to see… Doesn’t tell us about thoughts or feelings Reliability may suffer if checklists are poorly designed ETHICS – Invasion of privacy? Deception? Behaviour may change if participants are aware of being observed…

AS Psychology Over the next 3 lessons… Your group will be carrying out an observation, collecting and interpreting data and presenting it for homework You will need to read pages 4 to 7 by the next lesson

AS Psychology Sampling observational data Event Sampling vs. Time Sampling

AS Psychology In your groups… What is your research idea? What will you be observing? Structured or unstructured? Time or Event sampling? How will you collect data? How many observers?

AS Psychology Round-up Think of a question for someone in the group…

AS Psychology Homework! Carry out an observation, collect & interpret data Deadline is Wednesday 29 th September Use the Homework Assessment sheet on the WIKI to guide you READ PAGES 4 - 7