7.Naturalistic Methods
• What is naturalistic research, and why it is important?
• What is ecological validity, and why do naturalistic research
designs have it?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of being an acknowledged
or unacknowledged participant in observational research?
• What are case studies? What are their benefits and drawbacks?
• How are behaviors systematically coded to assess their reliability and
validity?
• What is archival research, and what types of questions can it be used
to answer?
Naturalistic Research and
Ecological Validity
Naturalistic Research
Research designs which describe and measure the behavior of
people or animals as it occurs in their everyday lives.
Ecological Validity
The extent to which the research is conducted in situation that
are similar to the everyday life experiences of the participants
(Aronson & Carlsmith, 1968)
Observational Research
Research involving observation of behavior and recording of
those observation in an objective way. Commonly used in
psychology, anthropology, sociology, and many other fields.
Research Used Unacknowledged Participants
1) Ethical Problems.
Observers may obtain
2) The activity of the observer
Ps’ natural reactions.
may influence the process
being observed.
Research Used Acknowledged Participants
X
Researchers obtain data
that require official
permission
X
Reactivity
Case Studies
A descriptive record of one or more individual’s experiences and
behavior.
Systematic Coding Methods
(1) What do you observe?
(a) Define behavioral categories based on your theory or
prediction.
(b) Define exactly what behaviors are to be coded.
(2) How do you record the observation?
(a) Media: Video Recording, Tape Recording, etc.
(b) Dependent Variables: Duration, Frequencies, etc.
(3) What sampling strategies do you use?
(a) Event Sampling?
(b) Individual Sampling?
Example: Rogoff (1990)
Archival Research
Research involving analysis of any type of public records of
behavior such as government records (e.g. wills, criminal records),
newspaper articles, speeches, and letter of public figures, television
and radio broadcasts.
Content Analysis
Analysis involving systematic coding of archival data.
It includes the specification of coding categories and the
use of more than one rater.
Lee, Hallahan, & Horzog (1996)
Naturalistic Research Chart
What kind of data are you going to obtain?
Audio-Visual Records
Records of public behavior
Observational Research
Archival Research
Is the data single case? No
Yes
Do participants know the observation?
Yes
No
Case Studies
Acknowledged Ps
Research
Unacknowledged Ps
Research
Class Assignment: Video Analysis
Tobin, Wu, & Davidson (1989). Preschool in Three Cultures:
Japan, China, and the United States.
Tasks
(1) Watch the video and find the similarities and differences
among these three cultures.
(2) Using the observation sheet, create some behavioral categories
that describe the setting or feature of the setting you think are
significant (e.g. playground, lunch time, or structural features)
(3) Discuss the teacher’s educational strategies and how they
differ concerning to the culture?