Two types of systematic observation used in child development research are naturalistic and structured observation. Explain the benefits and limitations of each

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answer: Observations of the behavior of children, and of adults who are important in their lives, can be made in different ways. One approach is to go into the field, or natural environment, and observe the behavior of interest—a method called naturalistic observation. The great strength of naturalistic observation is that investigators can see directly the everyday behaviors they hope to explain. One limitation of this research method is that not all individuals have the same opportunity to display a particular behavior in everyday life. Researchers commonly deal with this difficulty by making structured observations in a laboratory, where conditions are the same for all participants. In this approach, the investigator sets up a laboratory situation that evokes the behavior of interest so that every participant has an equal opportunity to display the response. Structured observation permits greater control over the research situation than does naturalistic observation. In addition, the method is especially useful for studying behaviors that investigators rarely have an opportunity to see in everyday life. A limitation of structured observation is that participants may not behave in the laboratory as they typically behave in their natural environment.