OBSERVATIONAL
METHOD.
INTRODUCTION, FEATURES INVOLVED, TYPES OF
OBSERVATION, ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES, CONCLUSION.
BY, applemoeez and bachi
INTRODUCTION
POWERFUL TOOL OF PSYCHOLOGICAL ENQUIRY
OBSERVATION IS THE SYSTEMATIC VIEWING OF
PEOPLE’S ACTIONS AND RECORDING, ANALYSING AND
RECORDING THEIR BEHAVIOUR, SELECTIVELY.
INFORMAL OBSERVATION THAT WE LEARN SINCE
CHILDHOOD CANNOT BE CONSIDERED
FEATURES OF OBSERVATION
SELECTION
RECORDING
ANALYSIS
INTERPRETATION
TYPES OF OBSERVATION
NATURALISTIC
CONTROLLED
STRUCTURED AND
UNSTRUCTURED
PARTICIPANT AND
NONPARTICIPANT
FIELD OBSERVATION
NATURALISTIC OBSERVATION
Observing people in their normal
environment
Often used in the study of animal
behavior
ADVANTAGES
Directly observe the subject in a natural setting
Used to generate new ideas
The entire situation can be studied
More insight is gained
DISADVANTAGES
Not possible to observe all types of behavior in a
natural settings
Different observers may have different conclusions
Many instances of behavior do not repeat themselves
CONTROLLED
OBSERVATION
Carried out in a laboratory
Theobserver decides where the observation takes place, at
what time and under what circumstances
Standardized procedures are used
ADVANTAGES AND
DISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES :
• Can be easily replicated by other researchers by using the same
observation schedule
• Observer can have control over variables
• A less time consuming method compared to naturalistic observation
DISADVANTAGES :
• Participants behave differently since they know they are being observed.
STRUCTURED
OBSERVATION
Also called Systematic Observation
Coding scheme is used by researchers
Technique for data collection that has two defining
characters
AN EXAMPLE
OBSERVATION CHECKLIST OF A STUDENT WHEN THE TEACHER
LEAVES THE ROOM:
CARRIE USES TALKS LISTEN LEAVES READS FALLS EATS
S ON MOBILE TO S TO THE MAGAZ ASLEEP
WORKI PHONE ANOTH MUSIC ROOM I
G R NE
STUDEN
T
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
ADVANTAGES :
• Greater control of sampling
• Measurement of error
• Permits stronger generalization and checks on reliability and validity
• Similar to a survey but questions are not asked
DISADVANTAGES :
• Language barrier
• Cultural barrier
• Risks involved
• People may behave unnaturally as they know that we are observing them.
UNSTRUCTURED OBSERVATION
Involves the researchers recording the behavior they can see
Can be difficult without the use of recording equipment
Provide rich qualitative data
For example , observing children playing with new toys
PARTICIPANT AND NON
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION
Non Participant observation involves observing participants without actively participating
Participant observation involves active participation of the observer
Participant observation is again of two types
One where the participants aren’t aware that they are being observed
The other where participants are aware that they are being observed
Strengths and Weaknesses
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION :
Does not rely on attitudes to predict behaviour
Can be used to look at behaviour across time
The researcher is open to new insights
May lose objectivity and become biased
People may not behave naturally
If researcher is “undercover” he has to be very covert about his research
the researcher may influence what happens
Strengths and
Weaknesses
NON PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION :
Participants tend to act more realistically
No ethical issues
Researcher has no influence over the situation
Observer may not get a feel of what is happening
Participants may get to know that they are being observed
CONCLUSION
OBSERVATION IS AN IMPORTANT METHOD OF DATA
COLLECTION
DIFFERENT TYPES OF OBSERVATION EXIST
SCIENTIFIC OBSERVATION IS SYSTEMATIC
DELIBERATE AND PURPOSEFUL
NEVERTHELESS, HAS LIMITATIONS THAT NEED TO BE
OVERCOME BY COMPLEMENTING WITH OTHER RESEARCH
METHODS LIKE INTERVIEWS OF PARTICIPANTS AND USE
OF EXPERIMENTS
REFERENCES
• Beena,C; Parameshwaran, E.G. An Initiative to Psychology.
• McLeod, S. A. (2015). Observation Methods. Retrieved from
www.simplypsychology.org/observation.html
• McLeod, S. A. (2007). Psychology Research Methods. Retrieved from
www.simplypsychology.org/research-methods.html
www.psychology.about.com
www.holah.co.uk/investigations/observation/
www.public.asu.edu/~kroel/www500/observation.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_psychological_research_methods
http://betterevaluation.org/evaluation-options/nonparticipantobservation
THANK YOU.
Corrupt apple sends regards
