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Part 1, Listening Comprehension
SECTION A MINI-LECTURE
Observing Behaviour
Good morning, everyone. Today we will look at how to observe behaviour in research. Perhaps you would say it is easy and there is nothing extraordinary. Yes, you may be right. All of us observe behaviour every day. For example, when traveling in another country, we can avoid embarrassment by observing how people behave in that culture. And failing to be observing while walking or driving can be life-threatening.
We learn by observing people's behaviour. Researchers too rely on their observations to learn about behaviour,but there are differences. For instance, when we observe casually, we may not be aware of factors that bias our observations, and, [1] and when we rarely keep formal records of our observations. Instead, we rely on our memory of events. [2]Observations in research on the other hand are made under precisely defined conditions, that is, in a systematic and objective manner, and with careful record keeping.
Then how are we going to conduct observations in our research studies, and what do we need to do in order to make a scientific and objective observation? Now, as you remember, the primary goal of observation is to describe behaviour, but it is in reality impossible to observe and describe all of a person's behaviour. So we have to rely on observing samples of people's behaviour. Doing so, we must decide whether the samples represent people's usual behaviour. Thus, we will first take a brief look at how researchers select samples of behaviour.
Before conducting an observational study, researchers must make a number of important decisions, that's about when and where observations will be made. As I've said before, the researcher cannot observe all behaviour. Only certain behaviours occurring at particular times, in specific settings can be observed. In other words, behaviour must be sampled. In this lecture, I will briefly introduce two kinds of sampling, that is, time sampling and situation sampling.
Now first, time sampling. Time sampling means that researchers choose various time intervals for their observation. Intervals may be selected systematically or randomly. Suppose we want to observe students' classroom behaviour. Then in systematic time sampling, our observations might be made during five 20-minute periods, beginning every hour. The first observation period could begin at 9 am, the second at 10 am and so forth. [3]However, in random sampling, these five 20-minute periods may be distributed randomly over the course of the day. That is to say, intervals between observation periods could vary—some longer others shorter. One point I'd like to make is systematic and random time sampling are not always used in isolation. They are often combined in studies. For example, while observation intervals are scheduled systematically, observations within an interval are made at random times. That means the researcher might decide to observe only during 15-second intervals that are randomly distributed within each 20-minute period.
[4]Now let's come to situation sampling. Then, what is situation sampling? It involves studying behaviour in different locations and under different circumstances and conditions. By sampling as many different situations as possible researchers can reduce the chance that their observation results will be peculiar to a certain set of circumstances and conditions. [5]Why? Because people or for that manner animals do not behave in exactly the same way across all situations. For example, children do not always behave the same way with one parent as they do with the other parent, and animals do not behave the same way in zoos as they do in the wild. [6]So, by sampling different situations, a researcher can make more objective observations than he would in only a specific situation.
[7]Having discussed ways to sample behaviour in research, we are now moving onto another issue, that is, what researchers should do to record behaviour as it occurs, that is whether researchers are active or passive in recording behaviour. This refers to the methods of observation. Observational methods can be classified as “observation with intervention” or “observation without intervention”. Observation with intervention can be made in at least two ways, participant observation and field experiment. In participant observation, observers, that is researchers, play a dual role: They observe people's behaviour and they participate actively in the situation they are observing. If individuals who are being observed know that the observer is present to collect information about their behaviour, this is undisguised participant observation. But in disguised participant observation, those who are being observed do not know that they are being observed.
[8]Another method of observation with intervention is field experiment. What is a field experiment? When an observer controls one or more conditions in a natural setting in order to determine the effect on behaviour, this procedure is called field experiment. The field experiment represents the most extreme form of intervention in observational methods. The essential difference between field experiments and other observational methods is that researchers have more control in field experiments.
Now let's take a look at observation without intervention. [9]Observation without intervention is also called naturalistic observation because its main purpose is to describe behaviour as it normally occurs, that is, in a natural setting, [10] without any attempt by the observer to intervene. An observer using this method of observation acts as a passive recorder of what occurs. The events occur naturally and are not controlled by the observer.
OK, in today's lecture, we have focused on how to make decisions of sampling before beginning our observation, and what we can do during observation. I hope what we've discussed will help you in your future research design.
