{"id":407,"date":"2018-11-05T21:52:17","date_gmt":"2018-11-05T21:52:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/irmp102\/?page_id=407"},"modified":"2018-11-05T21:52:17","modified_gmt":"2018-11-05T21:52:17","slug":"naturalistic-observation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/course.oeru.org\/irmp102\/learning-pathways\/nonexperimental-research-methods\/naturalistic-observation\/","title":{"rendered":"Naturalistic Observation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n
\n

\n<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/a> <\/p>\n
I see no ships<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Naturalistic observation<\/b> involves the systematic observation of behaviour in its natural setting. For example, a psychologist might study antisocial behaviour among toddlers at a daycare centre. It is especially important that the observation be unobtrusive in order to avoid influencing the behaviour being observed. As a result, technology (e.g., video cameras) is often employed for this purpose. Where the use of technology is not feasible, multiple observers (or raters) who have been trained to use a reliable coding scheme help ensure that the behaviour is being recorded as objectively as possible.\n<\/p>\n

In a recent example, Sears and her colleagues videotaped the home interactions of 31 families that each included an 8 to 12 year old child (Sears, Repetti, Reynolds, & Sperling, 2014). Later analyses of the video recordings allowed the researchers to identify the children’s most common facial, vocal and physical expressions of anger as well as the specific situations that instigated their anger (e.g., requests for compliance). In addition, through this use of this technique Sears and her colleagues learned that there were few differences between the likelihood of mothers and fathers instigating children\u2019s anger expressions, and between the expressions and contexts of the anger of boys and girls.\n<\/p>\n

Advantages of naturalistic observation<\/span><\/h3>\n