Advance Research Methods

Descriptive Methods
ZAFAR AHMAD
Content

 Observation
 Observation with
intervention

Participant Structured
Field Experiment
Observation observation
Participant Observation

Participant Observation

Disguised Participant Undisguised Participant

Observation Observation
Undisguised participant observation

 Undisguised participant observation is often used to

understand the culture and behaviour of groups of
individuals.
Disguised Participant Observation

 Disguised participant observation is often used when

researchers believe individuals would change their
behaviour if they knew it was being recorded
 Participant observation allows researchers to observe
behaviours and situations that are not usually open to
scientific observation.

 Participant observers may sometimes lose their

objectivity or may unduly influence the individuals
whose behaviour they are recording.
Structured observation

 Structured observations are set up to record behaviours

that may be difficult to observe using naturalistic
observation.
 Structured observations are often used by clinical and
developmental psychologist.
 Problems in interpreting structured observations can
occur when the same observation procedures are not
followed across observations or observers or when
important variables are not controlled.
 Simon and Levin (1998) used structured observation to
study a phenomenon called change blindness.

 Change blindness occurs when people fail to notice

changes in their environment, with so much going on
around us, it is impossible for us to notice every little
change.
Confederate

 Individuals in the research situation who are instructed

to behave in a certain way in order to create a situation
for observing behaviour.
Field Experiment

 In field experiment, researchers manipulate one or more

independent variables in a natural setting to determine the
effect on behaviour.

 When an observer manipulates one or more independent

variables in a natural setting in order to determine their effect
on behaviour, the procedure is called field experiment.
Recording Behaviour

 The goal of observational research determine whether

researchers see a comprehensive description of
behaviour or a description of only selected behaviours.

 How the result of a study are ultimately summarized,

analysed and reported depends on how behavioural
observations are initially recorded.
 Recording of Behavior

Qualitative records Quantitative measures

of Behavior of Behavior
Qualitative Records of Behavior

 Narrative records in the form of written descriptions of behaviour,

audiotapes, and videotapes are comprehensive records of observed
behaviour.
 Researchers classify and organize data from narrative records to test their
hypothesis about behaviour
 Narrative records should be made during or soon after behaviour is
observed, and observers must be carefully trained to record behaviour
according to established criteria.
Quantitative Records of Behavior

 Researchers often obtain quantitative measures such as

frequency or duration of occurrence when they seek to
describe specific behaviours or events.

 Quantitative measures of behaviour use one of the four

levels of measurement
Measurement Scales

Scales

Nominal Ordinal Interval Ratio