Observational Study: An observational study is a popular method of research which consists of the collection of specific data. This information is collected through means of extreme observation and study of a particular group of people, one person, and often animals. Observational studies are carried out to gain an insight as to why someone or groups of people act the way they do, often in relation to anti-social behaviour from members of gangs or terrorist organisations. The main question asked in these studies is why do people behave the way they do? The type of behaviour studied is generally predictable, frequent, and repetitive. It is often related to morality as they ask similar questions such as why do people do wrong even when they …show more content…
They are also known as systematic observations. [2] “This develops an accurate description of behaviours and relationships of people who are not aware of being observed” An interesting example of an observational study video I seen was in America, a man wore sunglasses and held a walking stick and entered a busy town pretending to be a blind man looking for change of a ten dollar bill, when in reality he was actually handing the unsuspected members of the public a one hundred dollar bill. The aim was to observe who would inform the ‘blind man’ of the truth and who would snatch the easy ninety dollars. Unsurprisingly enough a number of people gave him the change and ran away never to be seen again. This example is extremely interesting as the public were not aware that they were being observed and it questioned morality, they knew it was wrong but they did it anyway. Observational studies can be very interesting in relation to business especially retail. If there is a dramatic sale on people tend to turn into vicious animals trying to hunt for a bargain and sometimes become extremely aggressive. The study of this behaviour change is part of the observation
In "The Perils of Obedience," Stanley Milgram conducted a study that tests the conflict between obedience to authority and one's own conscience. Through the experiments, Milgram discovered that the majority of people would go against their own decisions of right and wrong to appease the requests of an authority figure. The study was set up as a "blind experiment" to capture if and when a person will stop inflicting pain on another as they are explicitly commanded to continue. The participants of this experiment included two willing individuals: a teacher and a learner. The teacher is the real subject and the learner is merely an actor.
The scientific method is how psychologists gain knowledge about the mind and behavior. It is used by all scientists. The experimental method is the one way to engage the scientific method, and the only way to find a cause and effect in relationships. It is summarized in five steps, observing some phenomenon in the world, forming a hypothesis which is an educated prediction about relationships between two or more variables, examining the gathered information by using empirical research, determining what the results are and drawing them, and evaluating the results whether it will support the hypothesis or not. Researchers, at the end, submit their work for publication for all to see and read (King, 2016). There are three types of psychological research in the scientific method, descriptive research, correlation, and experimental research (King, 2016). The article The Effects of Negative Body Talk in an Ethnically Diverse Sample of College Students (Katrevich, Register, & Aruguete, 2014) is an example of the experimental method.
Applied behavior Analysis (ABA) is the scientific application of set principals of operant behavior that branch off of the behaviorism philosophical approach of behavior. The core principals of Applied Behavior Analysis are to target an individual’s behavior for change that has a real life application for the individual. Moreover, of Applied Behavior Analysis seeks to discover the environmental variables that influence the individual behavior while simultaneously demonstrates a functional relationship between the manipulated environmental behavior and the target behavior.
Participant observation is a method of collecting information and data about a culture and is carried out by the researcher immersing themselves in the culture they observing. The researcher becomes known in the community, getting to know and understand the culture in a more intimate and detailed way than would be possible from any other approach. This is done by observing and participating in the community’s daily activities. The method is so effective because the researcher is able to directly approach the people in the community in a natural context as opposed to taking the participant out of their environment. The aim of participant observation is to gain an understanding the subject’s life from their perspective, with the purpose of collecting more detailed information about a community’s habits, opinions, relationships and issues.
Unfortunately, many lack tact and dive into things head first without providing a foundation for the reader to stand upon. The excitement to begin imparting all they have learned is endearing but ultimately, it is poor strategy. In order to understand anything regarding naturalistic observation and its research value, one must first understand the practice itself; both humans and animals can be subjected to naturalistic observation. The logistical issues tend to be availability of participants, ensuring that their privacy is respected, and whether the observations will be performed where the observer can be seen. Both approaches are used in animal and human naturalistic observation research. Being hidden, researchers are confident that those observed are not acting differently because they are being observed. This method effectively reduces or removes any chance of reactivity and this is goal, ensuring validity by allowing the subject to act in its most authentic nature without the interference of an outside force. Though this is ideal, there are times when observers cannot hide, and in those instances they must collect data over a long enough period to deduce whether or not their presence is affecting the actions of their research subjects. Privacy concerns greatly limit the use of naturalistic observation to places that are generally accessible to the public in the context of human observation but not chimpanzee, so the subject greatly effects the methodology.
Zastrow, Charles. Understanding Human Behavior and the Social Environment, Fifth Edition. 2001, pg. 246-47 & 324-29.
Surveillance is two fold, meaning it can be from peers and from the state. This can be seen with government spying on citizens to a mother listening in on her child’s conversation with a friend. Surveillance comes in many different forms as is seen throughout history. By watching one’s activities from video to listening to a conversation with a wire, there are many mediums of collecting information orally and visually. However, social control, in the form of surveillance, can lead to restricting the flow of truth. When one has the knowledge of being watched, this can lead to a person not acting how they normally would. This idea of being observed can lead to not only people not acting natural, but not showing the truth. Therefore,when one has
This gives a whole new view to being a subject. It isn’t being an observed person in a little Psychology experiment as much as it is never knowing who is watching you or what fate the “upper hand” may have in store for them. Being a subject, or “subjectivity” if you will, is more than just being watched. It puts you in a position that you are no longer an individual, but rather an object that is placed under specific conditions for the sole purpose of the experience. To many people, this theory could lead their lives and what they do in it for fear that the upper power.
I had thought I would get lot of reactions, but there were some folks who didn’t even see at me. Overall, more than half people reacted on me. From this experiment I learned a lot about social norms and society. Basically, I learned to know about the people perception towards violation of social norms; how social norms works and how much they play a role in everyone’s lives. I learned how people react toward people who don’t follow a social norms and break them. According to my view of analysis, these social norms and violation are created by people within a society, but there are some people who don’t ever care if someone violate their society social
By using observation methods, a wide variety of behavior can be recorded. Picking through the garbage on the side of the road can reveal behaviors of fast-food customers, or sitting for only one hour in the university canteen to understand the gender differences in choosing a diet meal, or even watching the customer’s behavior from deciding which yogurt to be taken off its store shelves in the supermarket can also answer the question: Are the customers attracted by its appearance or flavor or price or brand or nutrition? The aim of this observation assignment is to evaluate and explain the different types of interactions between individuals and groups present, as well as the environment in which these interactions take place. The field observation was conducted at the Vietnamese fast-food restaurant named “We love Banhmi” in Budapest, and the role adopted, was that of observer as a non-participant. Group structures as well as overall activity, patterns of behavior, and the duration and timing of such behaviors and interactions were observed and recorded.
There are four steps in the process of modeling for observational learning. They are attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation. Attention is when you focus on what the person you are observing is doing. Retention is remembering what you observed. Reproduction is performing the behavior you observed, and motivation is wanting to actually do the behavior.(www.courses.lumenlearning.com) The psychologist that most strongly identifies with observational learning is Albert Bandura. He believed that observational learning was the result of cognitive processes that are, “actively judgemental and constructive,” not merely “mechanical copying.”(Bandura) According to Bandura there are three different models to observational learning. They are live model which is behavior in person, verbal model which is not doing a behavior but explaining or describing it, and symbolic model is when people or fictional characters demonstrating behaviors in books,
There are many practical applications of the behaviourist approach, including in education, child rearing, treating phobias and advertising, using behaviourist theories to influence societies on a large scale (McLeod 2015). It is very scientific, using repeatable experiments to prove theories on behaviour and puts a strong emphasis on objective measurement (McLeod 2015). It can be used to explain a great quantity of human behaviour, using a small amount of scientifically studied theories (Hill
Introspection and behaviorism used to be two very popular styles of research. Introspection is the process of observing one's own mental, or emotional processes. Whereas behaviorism is the theory that both human and animal behavior can be changed by conditioning. These styles created a new way for researchers to expand their theories. While this style of research was prominent for several years, the psychology community soon began to realize that they both had certain limitations.
The most significant feature of an investigative study is the precision and simplicity of the investigative problem. For a brief assertion, it definitely has a great deal of influence on the study. The statement of the problem is the central position of the study. The problem statement should affirm what will be studied, whether the study will be completed by means of experimental or non-experimental analysis, and what the reason and function of the results will bring. As an element of the opening, profound problem declarations satisfies the query of why the study should to be performed. The reason of this essay is to discuss the features of an investigative problem; in addition, the essay will center on what constitutes a researchable problem; the components of a well formed Statement of Research Problem; and, what constitutes a reasonable theoretical framework for the need of a study.
There are many things that can affect a person’s behavior. This is what makes the world unique in itself because not all people who live in the world are the same and do not have the same values as others. Some people may get irritated or annoyed by having visitors come over every day and for other people this is a blessing and at their home everyone is welcomed. The thing that makes human behavior interesting is the fact that most of the world wants to learn more about why people act the way they do. (Clayton & Myers, 2009)