Observational and Self-Report Techniques

PSY 110 Group Teaching: Observational and Self-Report Techniques

1. Observational and
Self-Report
Techniques
Bautista, Adrian
Garduque, Bryant
Gonzalez, Aya
Kibanoff, Keisha
Sison, Juan Miguel
Villadiego, Julia

2. Observational Studies
•In observational studies, researchers and scientists draw
inferences on possible effects of a treatment on subjects
•However, in observational studies, the assignment of subjects
into a treatment group and control group are outside the
control of the investigator
•“Sit back and watch” – provide more naturalistic results
•No control overdoses, treatments
•Usually a group of symptomatic individuals self-expose (as a
researcher, you just make do with what is available around you)
•This is in contrast to controlled experiments (randomization of
subjects)
•If a randomized experiment cannot be carried out, then it may
be a source of bias

3. Self-Report Techniques
•Surveys, questionnaires, polls, interviews
•Respondents read the question and select a response by
themselves without researcher interference
•Validity and reliability problems
•Such as under-report (e.g., underestimate severities)
•May provide a wide number of respondents, easy to
administer (online, email, bulk distribution), gather lots of
data
•Problems stem mainly from how the respondents behave –
answers may be exaggerated, some may be embarrassed,
some may be biased, etc.
•Based on peoples feelings at the time of administration; may
be inconsistent