Describe different processes that go into conducting observational research: how to code behavior, how often, and how long to observe. Imagine you wish to observe if the way children on a playground approach other children affects their acceptance into the group. How would you use the frequency, duration, and interval approaches?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Ans: Observation sounds easy—just watch some people and take notes. However, that basic idea is only the beginning. Researchers need to take a number of steps to decide on what categories to use when observing behavior. First, investigators review the literature to see what categories other researchers in the same area have used. Second, you should do pilot testing to see if these categories actually work. Third, you should change the categories if changes need to be made. If we were to observe how children on a playground approach other children, we would start with seeing what other researchers have done. Some categories include hovering and then slipping into the group versus just barging into the group. Then, we would define what age group we are considering and other important variables. There are no set rules as to how often and how long to observe, but the frequency, duration, and interval approaches can be options. The frequency approach records the number of times the behavior occurs in a given period of time. For the duration approach, we would record how long the behavior lasts, and the interval approach looks at particular segments of time to see if the behavior occurs during that time period. For our question, we are not looking at a time-based hypothesis, we will look at the complexity of the behavior instead. In conclusion, the hypothesis drives the method.