Research Methods in Psychology Observation 1 Observational Research Researchers cannot observe All of a person’s behavior All people’s behavior Researchers can observe Samples of individuals Samples of behavior at particular times Samples of different settings and conditions 2 Observational Research Goal of sampling behavior Represent larger population of Behaviors People Settings and conditions 3 Observational Research Example: How many hours of television did you watch last week? Is this number representative of how much you typically watch tv? Is the average for the class representative of the number of hours of tv watched by all students on campus? all college students? all people? 4 Observational Research Use data from a sample to represent the population “Generalize” the findings from sample to population Sample must be similar to population External validity Extent to which a study’s findings may be used to describe people, settings, conditions beyond those used in the study. 5 Sampling Behavior Extent to which observations may be generalized (external validity) Depends on how behavior is sampled Two methods Time sampling Situation sampling Goal: obtain representative sample of behavior 6 Sampling Behavior, continued Time Sampling Choose time intervals for observations Systematic (first day of each week; third hour of every day; 9:00, 11:00, 1:00 during school day) Random (random day each week, random hour during the day, three random ½ hour periods during school day) EAR (electronically activated recording; every 12.5 minutes, 30 seconds of recording) Don’t use time sampling for observing rare events (might miss them) Event sampling (animals eating; museum patrons interacting with exhibits; player shooting foul shots) 7 Sampling Behavior, continued Situation Sampling Choose different settings, circumstances, conditions for observations If we want to examine how “considerate” a person is, we would do this. What if there are too many behaviors to observe (food selections in dining hall)? Use subject sampling to observe only some individuals within a situation (rules about probability sampling still apply—random subject sampling of some form would be best). 8 Exercise If you wanted to investigate the number and nature of disruptive behaviors in college classes and how they change over the semester at Albertus Magnus College, how would you do that? What type of sampling would you use (and why)? What if you wanted to investigate the same topic above in college classes in general? Classification of Observational MethodsObservational MethodsDirect ObservationIndirect (Unobtrusive) ObservationObservation without InterventionObservation with InterventionPhysical TracesArchival RecordsParticipant Observation Structured Observation Field Experiment 10 Direct Observation without Intervention Naturalistic Observation Observation in natural (real-world) setting No attempt to intervene or change situation ...

1. Research Methods in Psychology
Observation
1
Observational Research
Researchers cannot observe
All of a person’s behavior
All people’s behavior
Researchers can observe
Samples of individuals
Samples of behavior at particular times
Samples of different settings and conditions
2
Observational Research
Goal of sampling behavior
Represent larger population of
Behaviors
People
Settings and conditions
3
Observational Research

2. Example:
How many hours of television did you watch last week?
Is this number representative of how much you typically watch
tv?
Is the average for the class representative of the number of
hours of tv watched by
all students on campus?
all college students?
all people?
4
Observational Research
Use data from a sample to represent the population
“Generalize” the findings from sample to population
Sample must be similar to population
External validity
Extent to which a study’s findings may be used to describe
people, settings, conditions beyond those used in the study.
5
Sampling Behavior
Extent to which observations may be generalized (external
validity)
Depends on how behavior is sampled
Two methods
Time sampling
Situation sampling
Goal: obtain representative sample of behavior

3. 6
Sampling Behavior, continued
Time Sampling
Choose time intervals for observations
Systematic (first day of each week; third hour of every day;
9:00, 11:00, 1:00 during school day)
Random (random day each week, random hour during the day,
three random ½ hour periods during school day)
EAR (electronically activated recording; every 12.5 minutes, 30
seconds of recording)
Don’t use time sampling for observing rare events (might miss
them)
Event sampling (animals eating; museum patrons interacting
with exhibits; player shooting foul shots)
7
Sampling Behavior, continued
Situation Sampling
Choose different settings, circumstances, conditions for
observations
If we want to examine how “considerate” a person is, we would
do this.
What if there are too many behaviors to observe (food
selections in dining hall)?
Use subject sampling to observe only some individuals within a
situation (rules about probability sampling still apply—random
subject sampling of some form would be best).
8

4. Exercise
If you wanted to investigate the number and nature of disruptive
behaviors in college classes and how they change over the
semester at Albertus Magnus College, how would you do that?
What type of sampling would you use (and why)?
What if you wanted to investigate the same topic above in
college classes in general?
Classification of Observational MethodsObservational
MethodsDirect ObservationIndirect (Unobtrusive)
ObservationObservation without InterventionObservation
with
InterventionPhysical TracesArchival RecordsParticipant
Observation
Structured Observation
Field
Experiment
10
Direct Observation without Intervention
Naturalistic Observation
Observation in natural (real-world) setting
No attempt to intervene or change situation
Expert teacher example
Goals
Describe behavior as it normally occurs (bullying)
Examine relationships among naturally occurring variables
Establish external validity of lab findings
Correlation between bullying and establishing relationships

5. Use when ethical considerations prevent experimental
manipulation (bullying effects on developing peer relationships)
11
Direct Observation with Intervention
Characterizes most psychological research
Gain control over observations
Three methods in natural settings
Participant observation (note reactivity)
Undisguised—e.g., person gets permission to live with tribe to
observe and record their activities
Disguised—e.g., participants sought admission to psychiatric
hospital complaining of one symptom
Structured observation—between non-intervention and field
experiment; inattentional blindness example
Field experiment—one or more IVs manipulated in natural
setting (clown vs. skateboard)
12
Indirect (Unobtrusive) Observational Methods
Examine evidence of past behavior
Nonreactive
Two types of methods
Physical traces
Use (natural or controlled) traces
Cigarettes in ashtray; recyclables in garbage; highlighting in
textbook; food left on a plate
Products
Tattoos; bumper stickers; portion size of meals
Archival records

6. Running records; episodic records
Indirect (Unobtrusive) Observational Methods (continued)
Archival records—public and private documents describing
activities of individuals, groups, institutions, and governments
Running records—those that are continuously kept and updated
Status updates on Facebook; stock market; price of oil; records
of sports teams
episodic records—describe specific events or episodes
Birth certificate; marriage license; subpoena; divorce filing
One can examine the impact of the above events on behavior
(absenteeism, grades, detentions/suspensions)
Unobtrusive Measures
Possible problems in archival records
Selective deposit—not all information is recorded (politicians
speaking to media; Facebook best foot forward)
Selective survival—not all information is kept over time (advice
columnists don’t keep all letters; parents don’t keep all of kids’
grades/artwork)
Spurious relationships—2D:4D finger ratio; ice cream sales and
shark attacks
Nominal
Categorize behaviors, events, people
Hair color; height; walking (alone, pairs, listening to music,
playing on phone)
Ordinal
Rank-order behaviors
Least favorite to favorite; fastest to slowest; class rank

7. Measurement Scales
16
Measurement Scales (continued)
Interval
Has values that are meaningful and equally spaced
Temperature; Time on a clock; Likert scale (?)
Ratio
Has values that are equally spaced and scale has an absolute 0;
ratios of scale values.
Age; ruler measurements; income; response time
Measurement Scales (continued)
Brand of phone you use
Scale to measure weight
Number on a baseball jersey
Miles per hour
Golf score (in relation to par)
Top 25 poll in college football
Eye color
Letter grade in class
Military rank
IQ tests
Number of times getting out of seat
Social security number
Measurement Scales (continued)
Brand of phone you use Nominal
Scale to measure weight Ratio
Number on a baseball jersey Nominal

8. Miles per hour Ratio
Golf score (in relation to par) Interval
Top 25 poll in college football Ordinal
Eye color Nominal
Letter grade in class Ordinal
Military rank Ordinal
IQ tests Interval
Number of times getting out of seat Ratio
Social security number Nominal
Analysis of Observational Data
Method for analysis depends on
Goal of the study
How data are recorded
Measurement scale
Two types of analysis
Qualitative
Quantitative
20
Analysis of Observational Data, continued
Qualitative Analysis
Data reduction to summarize comprehensive records
Coding: identify units of behavior (including categories or
themes) using specific criteria
Emphasis on verbal summary
21

9. Analysis of Observational Data, continued
Quantitative Analysis
Statistical summary of observations
Descriptive statistics depend on measurement scale
Nominal: relative frequency
Ordinal: (e.g., ranking priorities for government action such as
education, economy, etc.) rank percentages
Interval and ratio: mean, standard deviation
22
Analysis of Observational Data, continued
Interobserver reliability
Measure of agreement between observers
Nominal: percent agreement
Ordinal: Spearman rank-order correlation
Interval and Ratio: Pearson correlation
23
Analysis of Observational Data, continued
Factors that affect interobserver reliability
Characteristics of the observers
Bored, tired, amount of experience
Train observers and provide feedback
Clearly define events and behaviors to be observed
Clear operational definitions
Provide examples
24

10. Thinking Critically About Observational Research
Problems in observational research
Influence of the observer on behavior
Observer bias
25
Thinking Critically About Observational Research, continued
Influence of the Observer
Reactivity: people change their usual behavior when they know
they’re being observed.
Researchers want to observe people’s usual behavior.
Demand characteristics: people pay attention to cues and
information in the situation to guide their behavior.
26
Thinking Critically About Observational Research, continued
Controlling reactivity
Conceal observer (videotape, one-way mirror)
Disguised participant observation (cell phone study)
Use indirect (unobtrusive) observation (use traces, products,
archival data)
Adapt participants to observer (lesson study)
Habituation
Reactivity is a potential problem in most psychological
research.

11. 27
Thinking Critically About Observational Research, continued
Observer bias
Observers often have expectations about behavior.
Example: expectations based on research hypotheses
Expectations can lead observers to look at only particular
behaviors
Example from tipping behavior study
28
HUM/115 v8
Critical Thinking Scenario
HUM/115 v8
Page 2 of 2
Critical Thinking Scenario
Sally is a 34-year-old woman who works in the customer service
department for a small company that sells printers. Her job
involves speaking with customers and addressing their concerns
for 8 hours a day. Unfortunately for Sally, customers only
reach out to her department when there is an issue with their
printers.
After a long day of listening to customer complaints, she felt
drained and agitated. She wanted to relax, so she went to dinner
with some colleagues. The colleagues began discussing an issue
at work that was causing friction between departments. Sally
did not agree with her colleagues’ viewpoint on the causes of
that friction, but she did not want to say anything because she

12. felt that she did not know enough about the topic. She decided
that after this dinner, she would not spend time with these
colleagues outside of work anymore. For the remaining part of
the discussion, Sally nodded her head and appeared to agree
with her colleagues in order to avoid confrontation.
The next day at work, Sally spoke with a customer who
disagreed with the warranty policy of the company. The
customer explained to Sally that he understood the terms of the
warranty, but he described how vital his printer was to his
business. He went on to share how the ability to print materials
equated to his ability to put food on the table for his family. He
asked if there was anything that Sally could do to help. Sally
imagined herself in the customer’s position, and decided to look
into additional options for the customer. In the end, Sally was
able to de-escalate the situation and assist the customer.
This interaction with the customer led her to question their
warranty, and she decided to speak with her manager to see if it
could be changed. She stated that the current warranty policy
was inadequate because it did not provide customers with
enough time to determine if the product would function
appropriately. She provided supporting evidence to show that
many printers failed only 1 month after the 1-year warranty
expired. She also calculated the number of those customers with
failed printers that did buy a replacement printer from the
company Sally worked for. Sally proposed that the warranty be
extended to 18 months. Unfortunately her manager did not agree
with her argument, and replied to her by asking: “How can you
be arguing for change in policy when you are late to work most
of the time?” However, the manager did not provide an
argument against extending the warranty, so Sally decided she
would continue to argue for changing the warranty with the
company’s leadership. After several meetings with the
company’s owner, Sally was able to get her proposal approved
and the warranties extended.
Copyright© 2019 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.
Copyright© 2019 by University of Phoenix. All rights reserved.

13. 1
3
Title of Paper
Student Name
Course/Number
Due Date
Faculty Name
Title of Paper
Triple click your mouse anywhere in this paragraph to replace
this text with your introduction. Often the most important
paragraph in the entire essay, the introduction grabs the reader's
attention—sometimes a difficult task for academic writing.
When writing an introduction, some approaches are best
avoided. Avoid starting sentences with “The purpose of this
essay is . . .” or “In this essay I will . . .” or any similar flat
announcement of your intention or topic.Elements of Critical
Thinking
Triple click your mouse anywhere in this paragraph to replace
this text with your 1st body paragraph. In this section, you will
focus on the elements of critical thinking apparent in the case.
Replace the text with a well-developed paragraph (including a
topic sentence and transitions) that considers the following
questions: What barriers to critical thinking were apparent?
How were they presented? Do you believe that Sally possesses
characteristics of a good critical thinker? Why or why
not?Reason, Emotion, and Communication
Triple click your mouse anywhere in this paragraph to replace
this text with your 2nd body paragraph. In this section, you will
focus on the role that reason, emotion, and communication play
in the case. Replace the text with a well-developed paragraph
(including a topic sentence and transitions) that considers
following questions: How is the concept of reason presented?
How did emotion affect Sally’s critical thinking? What type of

14. communication style does Sally use while at dinner with her
colleagues? Why do you believe this?Fallacies and Argument
Triple click your mouse anywhere in this paragraph to replace
this text with your 3rd body paragraph. In this section, you will
explain the fallacies and arguments presented in the case.
Replace the text with a well-developed paragraph (including a
topic sentence and transitions) that considers the following
questions: What fallacies, if any, are present in the scenario?
What is the main argument presented? Do you believe the
argument is valid? Why or why not?
Conclusion
Triple click your mouse anywhere in this paragraph to replace
this text with your conclusion. The closing paragraph is
designed to bring the reader to your way of thinking if you are
writing a persuasive essay, to understand relationships if you
are writing a comparison/contrast essay, or simply to value the
information you provide in an informational essay. The closing
paragraph summarizes the key points from the supporting
paragraphs without introducing any new information.
20. (8` points) Two observers observe a child in the classroom
every 30 minutes to record whether he is behaving aggressively.
They use two categories for their observations: yes (aggressive)
or no (not aggressive). Using the data presented below, answer
the following question.
Calculate and report the observers' interobserver reliability.
Do you think the observers demonstrated acceptable
interobserver reliability? Why or why not?

15. 21. (5 points) A researcher was interested in determining
whether more frequent breaks (i.e., "coffee breaks") in a
business setting would help employees to be more productive.
With the cooperation of the management, employees on one
floor of the corporate offices were allowed to take a 10-minute
break each hour (at any time) between 8:00 and 11:00 A.M. (for
a total of 30 minutes). The comparison group comprised
employees on different floors who followed the usual corporate
policy of taking a 30-minute break sometime during the
morning (at any time). Measures of productivity were gathered
for each employee according to his or her job (e.g., number of
reports written, number of sales made, etc.). A time series
analysis was applied to compare the productivity of both groups
of employees for six months before and after the intervention
(started in July). Quite surprisingly, the productivity of both
groups increased following the onset of the intervention,
suggesting to the researcher that the timing of breaks makes no
difference.
What type of research design was used in this study?
Describe two ways in which contamination may have influenced
the results of this study.
Describe one threat to internal validity that might be present in
this study because the independent variable manipulation was
implemented on different floors of the building.