In this paper, the observer will describe her observation of a family with a young child and the observer will analyze these observations by relating them to supporting literature and research. The method of observation was naturalistic. Naturalistic observation is a method used to collect behavioral data in real-life situations (Brain, 2002). Data can be gathered by observing from a distance without making the subjects aware that they are being observed (Brain, 2002). The observation may be direct or indirect. In the direct method, the observer is present in the setting; however, in the indirect method other means are used such as video recording. Direct method allows the observer to focus on specific areas of interest (Miller, 1983). In …show more content…
The child appeared to have a closer relationship with the mother than with the father. When the father left the room the child appeared more relaxed. She even initiated a conversation with her mother. Occasionally, as she spoke she pointed out things in the environment, although her mother cautioned her against it. When the girl was cautioned by her mother, she did not appear threatening. Instead, she smiled and maintained her cheerful mood. Also, the mother also appeared to pay attention to the father. She would stroke her daughter’s face as she conversed with her husband. As soon as the father returned the daughter became tense, sat upright and kept to herself. Earlier in the observation, the father had motioned the daughter to sit still. The daughter had responded swiftly without any hesitation and seemed rather tense. The father appeared to be the disciplinarian. Also, the way his spouse gave him her attention validated his role as head of the …show more content…
The father appeared to have a clear and direct form of communication when correcting or disciplining his daughter. Clear and direct communication is the healthiest form of communication and occurs when the message is stated plainly and directly to the appropriate family member (Epstein et al, 1993). This was clear in the way he motioned his daughter to sit upright. He kept a straight face and maintained direct eye contact. The daughter seemed to be more withdrawn when communicating and interacting with his father. They did not exchange words or glances in the clinic’s environment. Challenges The exercise was time-consuming. It took a lot of patience to observe, to take notes, and then to analyze the findings. Alteration of behavior by the family when they became aware that they are being observed is another challenge. Therefore, the observer needed to be very cautious so that she would not alert the family being observed. The observer recorded her findings without intervening in the situation. It was a challenge to avoid experimental bias when observing the family. It was difficult to stay objective without allowing personal predispositions or stereotypes to cloud one’s judgment.
In this assignment I am going to describe a child observation that I have done in a nursery for twenty minutes in a play setting. I will explain the strengths and weaknesses of naturalistic observation through the key developmental milestones based in Mary Sheridan (2005) check-list and provide a theoretical explanation to support the naturalistic observation.
Detachment caused by the mother's sense of apprehension is evident as she says to her child, "New statu...
On June 8, 2016, a child welfare agency conducted a parent/child observation with Ms. Sophia Mendez and her three children. Ashley M. Mosgrove, social work intern, did the intake and completed the biopsychosocial assessment.
Child development is an amazing thing to watch in the way that children interact with one another and how they perceive the world that surrounds. While doing our research of child development we began to observe a group of kids ranging the ages 1 – 12. During these observations we noticed traits such as attachment, comfort, and love. Through the following examples we will proceed to observe development in our environment and explain its relativity to the text
The observation occurred in the LNC lunchroom during the second lunch of the day. I observed two groups of people in the lunchroom. The first group I observed being a group of all males seated to the right of me. The second group being a group of all females seated in the middle of the cafeteria. The method of observation I used was naturalistic observation. The naturalistic observation experience during the LNC lunch period provided further meaning about or local, national, and global community.
Plan for when and where observations will be conducted. Observation will take place at the child’s home with another child and then with parents, out in public that allows interaction with different children, at a family event with a larger group of children and caregivers. These observations will be conducted at different times of the day to allow a variety of interactions and non-repetitive interactions, different times of the day can affect how tired the child is, whether the child interacts better in the morning first thing or the afternoon and how it affects her emotional mood. These different observation locations allow the child to be observed in different situations with one on one play, interactions with adults, interacting with groups of children in new environments and to see how well the child relates to other
The use of love and tension between the parent and child had help the readers demonstrate the importance of a elder figure in one’s life. The various different style of relationship help compare between the acceptable and undesirable a person can experience. Truly, a child is required a parent figure to help with situations and concerns; to share and express their opinions.
Naturalistic observation involves recording subjects' naturally occurring behavior while they are in their natural environment. This experiment revolves around this type of observation. Specifically, it involves the observation of the various human dyads (male-female, male-male, female-female,) social interaction, within in a public environment. Focal points of observation included conversation space (distance between individuals heads,), and body language.
For 12 weeks I observed a young pre-schooler Child C aged 31/2 years old, through my account I would give an observer’s view of Child C, three theories peculiar to Child C and my the emotions evoked in me as an observer. My observation assisted in my understanding of the changes in Child C as the week progressed over the 12 weeks.
The research study that Dr. Bandura conducted during this study was both correlational and naturalistic observation. Naturalistic observation is defined as “a measurement strategy that involves directly watching and coding behaviors” (Belsky, 2016, p. 25). Dr. Bandura accomplished this process by video recording and analyzing the behavior of the children. Correlational study is defined by Belsky as “a research strategy that involves relating two or more variables” (2016, p. 25). In Dr. Bandura’s study the variables were the exposure to violent behavior (independent variable) and the acting out with violent behavior (dependent variable).
...rst step in a research program. In my observation, I studied different concepts of psychology that are critical in influencing a child development and understands different human behavior as they take place in a daily setting. This gave me an opportunity to notice the participant’s natural behavior, which reduces minimizes biases in my observation and also can be further used as a rich source of hypotheses. As one investigator commented, "The major strength of naturalistic observation is that it allows researchers to study behavior under conditions that are less artificial than in experiments” (Weiten, 2008, p. 347).
To study a group of people in their natural environment without disturbing or influencing their usual behavior is called naturalistic observation. Consequently,
Observation is important as the practitioner can find out what the child is interested in and what motivates them to learn alongside their progress and how they behave in certain situations, additionally at the same time it identifies if children need assistance within certain areas of learning or socially (DCSF, 2008). Furthermore the observations check that the child is safe, contented, healthy and developing normally within the classroom or early years setting, over time the observations can be given to parents as they show a record of progress which helps to settle the parent and feel more comfortable about their child’s education. Observations are not only constructive within learning about an individual child, they can be used to see how different groups of children behave in the same situation and how adults communicate and deal with children’s behaviour (Meggitt and Walker, 2004). Overall observations should always look at the positives of what children can complete within education and not look at the negatives and all observations should become a fundamental part of all practitioners work alongside reflection (Smidt, 2009).
Observational methods are of a non-experimental design where the absence of the IV does not allow any cause and effect relationship. There are different types of observations to include; participant, nonparticipant, structured, non-structured and naturalistic. This method includes an observation of the respondent by the researcher in the respondent’s natural social settings. The researcher has no influence over the behaviour of the respondent. Observations are commonly used to study aspects of development, including physical, social, emotional and intellectual
Observation is essential for psychologists to get to know their clients. Examination consists of learning and understanding the way the client acts and thinks. While observing it is important to take mental notes and be aware of body language to see how the client reacts to certain questions and situations. There are many ways to do this, including case studies, surveys, and naturalistic observation. The case study examines an individual in depth, but often is in need for further study. “We must ask questions and look for answers within several different research methods.” (Plante, 2005) The survey looks at cases in less depth, but is used to estimate outcomes from a group of people. Naturalistic observation notes behavior in a natural environment, yet it does not explain behavior, it describes it. While observing, it is helpful to look for patterns and sequences because as Heffner stated “Order can be found in even the most random data.” (2001) Nevertheless, observation is important because before psychologists can explain what people do, they must first observe what it is that they do.