PSYC104 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Jane Goodall, Ecological Validity, Naturalistic Observation
17 May 2018
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PSYC104 RESEARCH DESIGN READING
Chapter 6 [Observation]
6.2.1 Chapter Outline
- What Does it Mean to Observe?
- An Overview of Observational Research
- Types of Observational Research
- Advantages and Disadvantages of Observational Methods
- Sampling in Observational Research
- Recording Observational Data
- Final Preparations for Observing
- Analysing Observational Data
6.3 What Does It Mean To Observe?
- Empirical: gaining knowledge through direct observation
- Scientific observations are systematic, objective, and are based on evidence telling us how
the world is, not necessarily how we want or expect it to be
- Confirmation bias: search for data that support existing views and discounting data that
conflict with existing views
6.4 An Overview of Observational Research
- Observational research usually refers to a particular type of descriptive research method
involving direct observation of behaviour in natural rather than laboratory settings
- Can help generate hypotheses, especially in situations where a phenomenon of interest has
not been studied very thoroughly
- In situations where we already have a fair amount of experimental evidence, it can help
confirm ecological validity
- Eologial alidity: the aility to geeralise fidigs to real orld situatios ( a type of
external validity)
- Can provide additional support for, or reasons to reject, hypotheses investigated previously
using other methods
6.5 Types of Observational Research
- Naturalistic observation: features very direct data collection using visual observation, field
notes, and recordings in natural settings (e.g. Jane Goodall)
- Participant observation: refers to the immersion of the researcher into the phenomenon
under study
- Structured observation: can be either obtrusive, where the presence of the researcher is
obvious to the participants, or unobtrusive, where the participants are not aware that their
behaviour is being watched
- Field experiment: is carried out in a natural setting rather than a laboratory
6.7 Sampling in Observational Research
- The extent to which we can generalise from our sample to a larger population is known as
population validity (a type of external validity)
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Document Summary
Scientific observations are systematic, objective, and are based on evidence telling us how the world is, not necessarily how we want or expect it to be. Confirmation bias: search for data that support existing views and discounting data that conflict with existing views. Observational research usually refers to a particular type of descriptive research method involving direct observation of behaviour in natural rather than laboratory settings. Can help generate hypotheses, especially in situations where a phenomenon of interest has not been studied very thoroughly. In situations where we already have a fair amount of experimental evidence, it can help confirm ecological validity. E(cid:272)ologi(cid:272)al (cid:448)alidity: the a(cid:271)ility to ge(cid:374)eralise fi(cid:374)di(cid:374)gs to (cid:858)real (cid:449)orld(cid:859) situatio(cid:374)s ( a type of external validity) Can provide additional support for, or reasons to reject, hypotheses investigated previously using other methods. Naturalistic observation: features very direct data collection using visual observation, field notes, and recordings in natural settings (e. g. jane goodall)
