Discuss an advantage and a disadvantage of conducting research in naturalistic settings

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

One problem with naturalistic observations is that the psychologists' own beliefs or values may bias
their observations and cause them to misinterpret behaviors. Another problem is that conducting a naturalistic observation can be very time-consuming and requires much training and effort. Lastly, because naturalistic settings are uncontrolled and many things happen, researchers find it difficult to identify what causes what. For this reason, researchers may have to answer some questions in a more controlled setting, such as a laboratory or clinic.

One advantage of naturalistic observations is the opportunity to study behaviors in real-life situations and environments, which cannot or would not be duplicated in the laboratory. Naturalistic observations allow researchers to get a close-up look at everyday life, which means they can be confident that this is really the way people typically behave. Also, because people don't know they are being observed, they won't be motivated to do what they think the observer or researcher wants them to do. Lastly, an advantage is that the data are collected by first-hand observation and is not based on people's recollections, which at times can be far from accurate.