I conducted a controlled observation in order to monitor the behaviours and attitudes of participants who took an interest in leaflets regarding drugs and alcohol. This reveals the truth about how many individuals are interested in this particular area and activities.
I chose to use a controlled observation over naturalistic and participant methods because it was the most suitable observational method. Naturalistic and participant would not of fulfilled the criteria of what I want to achieve in understanding and researching. Using a controlled observation is a more suitable method as this determines when exactly you are able to collect the material and information you want at a specific time.
I have already researched another controlled observational experiment that is based around young individuals and their behaviours of trying to resist eating a marshmallow that is placed in front of them. These children are told that if they want to eat the marshmallow they can however if they wait until the adult has re entered the room they will be given a second marshmallow as a reward. Many of these individuals tried to distract themselves from eating the marshmallow such as wondering their eyes around the room, talking to themselves or another child that was with them, touching the object, smelling the object, licking it, etc.
The method and table that I created are both reliable to an extent as they could potentially be improved. The intensity was from 1-5 but did not state that 1 was the lowest and 5 was the highest intensity which could be a barrier of communication of another researcher using these creations. The table could also be improved by including more intensity elements and titles.
The validity of my observation is positive to an extent although it could be improved. My chosen observation could be increased in its validity by including a second observer to monitor the individuals involved. It can be hard to monitor all individuals who are involved in the experiment. Before conducting the observation I determined that no one would take an interest to the leaflets although I was biased and turned out to be wrong as many participants approached these documents and concluded my initial data. Although I was able to gather positive information I could of improved this by increasing the amount of columns which would allow me to identify different attitudes and behaviours of the monitored individuals.
The strengths of my method are that I am able to tailor my material the way I want in order to gather the relevant information. Conducting a controlled observation I am able to view the participants behaviours of the provided documents which gives me categories and specific information to lead from. It is easier and increasingly quick to analyse data collected from a controlled observation due to this being quantitatively based. This method is less time consuming to conduct rather than a naturalistic observation. Large samples can be obtained in a short period of time when using a controlled observation which will ultimately leave more time to analyse and evaluate the findings.
A weakness in using a controlled observation can be that participants might respond differently if they acknowledge that they are being monitored, however I did not experience this. Participants that I observed were not informed that they were being monitored and recorded regarding their activities with the documents. Individuals that are aware that they are being monitored might not display normal behaviours which is why it is crucial to be careful when observing so that the initial data collection is not incorrect or 'fake'.
Data Collected
The research that I have conducted has furthered my documentary as it gives me an increased amount of reliability and relevance regarding information to use. The research that I have collected is significant towards my documentary as it enables me to observe how many individuals took interest in the documents, furthermore observing their behaviours and comments that they had on these.
The strengths of my method are that I am able to tailor my material the way I want in order to gather the relevant information. Conducting a controlled observation I am able to view the participants behaviours of the provided documents which gives me categories and specific information to lead from. It is easier and increasingly quick to analyse data collected from a controlled observation due to this being quantitatively based. This method is less time consuming to conduct rather than a naturalistic observation. Large samples can be obtained in a short period of time when using a controlled observation which will ultimately leave more time to analyse and evaluate the findings.
A weakness in using a controlled observation can be that participants might respond differently if they acknowledge that they are being monitored, however I did not experience this. Participants that I observed were not informed that they were being monitored and recorded regarding their activities with the documents. Individuals that are aware that they are being monitored might not display normal behaviours which is why it is crucial to be careful when observing so that the initial data collection is not incorrect or 'fake'.
Data Collected
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