Non Experimental Methods
Investigating Behaviour
Surveys
 Questionnaires – written or verbal
 Interviews
 Structured – pre determined questions (questionnaire that is
delivered face to face)
 Unstructured – Each question is developed as a result of the
previous answer. (Clinical interview)
 Both can be used to collect quantitative or qualitative data.
 What ethical issues should be considered? (3)
Task
 What do you think the strengths and limitations would be
for:
 Questionnaires (2strengths, 2 weaknesses)
 Structured interviews (3 and 3)
 Unstructured (2 and 3)
 Work in pairs or 3s to discuss the development, use and analysis
of data using these techniques to help you come up with your
answers.
 Consider how you would feel if you were the participant.
 Compare and contrast them.
Evaluation
Strengths
Questionnaires
Structured
Interviews
Unstructured
Interviews
Weaknesses
•Once questionnaire has been designed it is quick
and easy to replicate to collect a large number of
responses.
•Don’t require specialists administrators.
•More willing to give information as feedback
would be confidential rather than in interviews/
•Leading questions/social
desirability bias - answers not
truthful.
•Biased sample as only certain
types of people are willing to fill
in questionnaires.
•Easily repeated.
•Requires less skill than unstructured.
•Easier to analyse as answers are more
structured/predictability.
•Interviewer bias.
•Data is restricted/limited
•People feel less comfortable
about revealing information
•More detailed information can be elicited.
•Information is less restricted
•Interviewer bias (more likely
than in structured)
•Requires well trained
interviewers.
•Data may not be comparable
(questions would differ)
•More difficult to analyse
Glossary of terms
 Leading questions – a question which is worded in a way that
makes one answer more liked. ‘Wouldn’t you agree . . .?’
 Social Desirability Bias – what people think they should say
rather than genuinely think/feel.
 Interviewer Bias – what the interviewee thinks the
interviewer wants.
Reliability
 Consistency.
 Experimenters must ensure that the questionnaire they use is
reliable to ensure that they are testing what they aim to.
 Ie – If the same questionnaire is used with the same
participant on 2 different occasions but gain different
responses, if the questionnaire was reliable then we can
assume that the difference can be attributed to the
participant.
 Test-retest reliability – repeating questionnaire with same
participants to see if the same results are obtained and
measured using a correlation coefficient.
Validity
 That the questionnaire is measuring what it was designed to
measure.
 If answers are affected by social desirability bias, interviewer
bias etc then the results lack validity.
 Concurrent validity – comparing results from new
questionnaire with an established study.
Good Questionnaires:
 Are clear.
 Lack bias
 Easy to analyse – closed questions (options given, likert
scale) but this makes the data quantitative rather than
qualitative.
 Good Surveys:
 Include filler questions – misleads interviewee to reduce
interviewer bias.
 Easy qstns at start more difficult at end.
 Pilot study
Correlational Design and Analysis
 Correlational analysis is used to analyse non-experimental
methods (surveys/observations/case studies) as the IV is not
being manipulated and there is very little control over
extraneous variables.
 It is not a research method!
Correlational Design and Analysis
 Correlation – a relationship between two variables (co-
variables).
 Positive correlation – when 2 variables increase together.
 Negative correlation – when 1 variable increases and the
other decreases.
Zero Correlation
 Zero correlation – no relationship between the 2 variables.
Visual Display
 Correlations are displayed using a scattergram.
 A dot is plotted on a scattergram for each participant’s two
answers. Eg weight and hours spent exercising per week.
Statistical Test
 In the same way we used T-test for our experimental methods in
order to reject our null hypothesis so too do we use statistics in
non-experimental methods.
 Correlation co-efficient – never greater than 1 (+1 for
positive correltaions and -1 for negative correlations).
 1 Is the perfect correlation but is very rare. The strength of
correlation is expressed as weak, moderate or strong.
 The closer to 1 the number is the stronger the correlation:
 +0.76 (there is a positive and strong correlation between the co-
variables)
 -0.76 (there is a negative and strong correlation between the covariables)
 +0.002 (There is a very weak positive correlation between the covariables)
Significance
 A table of significance is used to determine whether the
strength of the correlation (the number) is significant.
 The significance is dependent upon the number of
participants who took part/responded (N).
 Even small numbers (0.02) can be significant if the N is very
large.
Evaluation of investigations using
correlational analysis
Strengths
Weaknesses
Can be used when it would be ethically wrong
to manipulate variables.
Even with a correlation it does not mean there
is a cause-effect between the two variables.
If the correlation is significant then further
research should be carried out/justified.
There may be other untested variables that
could explain the correlation.
If there is a zero correlation then causal
relationships can be ruled out. (they don’t
cause each other – find other variables)
Observation
 The starting point for all investigations.
 Must be objective.
 If used as part of an experiment then it is a research
technique. However, if used on its own it is a research
method.
 The design of these observations may vary:
Naturalistic Observation
 Behaviour is studied in a completely natural setting.
 The researcher does not change anything.
 This is different from a natural experiment as the
experimenters are not looking for a relationship between an
IV and a DV.
Example:
 Children aged 3- 5 observed in a playground. Activities were
categorised as male, female or neutral. Praise and imitation
was recorded as positive responses while criticism and
stopping play were recorded as negative responses.
 Children generally reinforced peers for gender-appropriate
play and criticised gender-inappropriate play.
 Lamb and Roopnarine, 1979
Controlled Observation
 Some variables can be controlled eg setting, objects etc.
 Participants are likely to know they are being studied.
 Reduces chances of behaviour being completely natural.
Example
 Lamb and Roopnarine’s experiment could also have been
carried out as a controlled observation.
 ie The children could have been out in a playroom where the
toys would have been pre chosen by the experimenters.
 NB – this is different from Bandura’s Bobo Doll experiment
as they directly affected the IV (showing the children a video
in advance). In this instance observation was used as a
technique not a method.
Other types of Observation
 Content Analysis – observing written/verbal texts.
 Non-participant – observer does not involve themselves
simply observes.
 Participant – Observers participate.
 Disclosed – participant knows they are being observed.
 Undisclosed – participant unaware they are being observed.
Example (page 119)
 Leon Festinger, a social psychologist, 1950s.
 Religious cults receiving messages from aliens detailing the
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end of the world.
Believed they would be rescued by a UFO and arranged to
meet a set time and location.
Festinger posed as a convert in order to observe their
reactions when their beliefs were unfounded.
The night before the predicted flood, when it was apparent
that there would be no flood, the cult leader claimed that it
was because of their combined prayers.
Observed a mixture of reactions – some didn’t believe and
left the cult, others took it as evidence of the cult’s powers.
Reliability
 To ensure reliability (consistency) it is always better to have
at least 2 observers who produce the same record (if 2
observers have conflicting recordings their observations are
not reliable).
 Observers should be trained to increase level of reliability.
 The extent of this consistency is call inter-observer
reliability
 Measured by correlating the results . To have inter-observer
reliability the correlation must be >.80.
Validity (measuring what it’s supposed
to)
 Can be affected by observer bias – the observer sees what
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they want/expect to see rather than being objective.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GEEvvTiiQk
Using more than one observer and averaging their responses
can help with this.
If participants know they are being observed they may change
their behaviour (eg social desirability bias).
Results will not be valid if the coding system is flawed.
Task:
 In pairs decide who is A and who is B.
 Take it in turns to complete the task. Each task should take 5
minutes.
 While one person is completing the task the other person
should be recording all aspects of their behaviour: ie facial
expressions, verbal cues, body language, etc
Observational techniques
 Structured vs Unstructured.
 Unstructured (what you did): Observer records everything
they believe to be relevant. No system for observing or
recording behaviour.
 Observer will note only the most obvious behaviour but
these may not be the most important (did you see the
moonwalking bear?).
Structured
 Systems are put in place to ensure observations are organised and
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systematic.
Sampling procedure – knowing who you are observing and when.
Observation schedule – how to record the behaviour you are
studying.
Continuous observation – Every instance of the relevant behaviour
is recorded in great detail. Difficult as it requires a lot of recording
if the behaviour is common.
Event sampling – counting the amount of times it occurs.
Time sampling – recording behaviour at set intervals (every 30
seconds). Can be selected from a checklist.
Observational Schedule/Coding
system/Behaviour checklist
 Having a pre-made list of relevant behaviour to be observed
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which helps the observer to deconstruct the behaviour.
They should be objective and leave no room for observer
bias.
Be wide spread – cover all possibilities.
Should be discrete – no room for overlaps
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/project/face/www/facs.ht
m
Research Methods - Summary
 Part 1 -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkwsrh10OXM
 Part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwcuHaJ7q0I
Case studies
 A detailed study of an individual/place/event.
 How Freud collected his data – Anna O.
 Requires a variety of research methods to develop an
informed picture – interviews, tests etc.
 Extremely in depth.
 Time consuming (longitudinal) – carried out over a long
period of time.
 Task: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this
method?
 Try to come up with 3 of each and use your prior knowledge
of this topic to help.
Evaluation
Advantages
Disadvantages
Sensitive to the individual
Interviewer/observer bias (interpreting what they
expect rather than interpreting objectively)
Very detailed and in-depth information is gained.
Nothing is overlooked.
Lack of scientific validity – no cause/effect.
High ecological validity.
Can’t generalise the results
Can be used to investigate rare phenomenon that
would be unethical to use experiment for.
Impossible to replicate – lacks reliability.
Reports of past events cannot be validated – self
report techniques are not reliable
Revision
 Scholar
 Work through the Unit 2 section of Scholar, adding to your
notes and completing the interactive activities. Particularly
the data analysis – nominal, ordinal and interval data section
which we haven’t covered.
 1,3,4,2