Dr. Krishnan is going to observe and record children's play behaviour at a nursery school without attempting to influence or control the behaviour. Which method of research is involved? Explain the process and discuss its merits and demerits.
The method of research involved is Naturalistic Observation. This type of observation is conducted in natural or real-life settings such as schools, hospitals, homes, and day care centers, where the observer makes no effort to control or manipulate the situation for making an observation.
The process of observation involves two key stages. First is Selection, where the psychologist selects a particular behaviour for observation rather than observing all behaviour encountered. Second is Recording, where the researcher records the selected behaviour using different means such as marking tallies for identified behaviours, taking notes using shorthand or symbols, photographs, and video recording.
The main merit of this method is that it enables the researcher to study people and their behaviour in a naturalistic situation, as it actually occurs. This provides authentic data about behaviour in real-life settings without any artificial influence.
However, the method has several demerits. It is labour intensive and time consuming. More importantly, it is susceptible to observer's bias, as our observation is influenced by our values and beliefs. As the popular saying goes, "We see things as we are and not as things are." Due to these biases, we may interpret things differently than what the participants actually mean. Therefore, the observer should record behaviour as it happens and should not interpret it at the time of observation itself.
Explanation
The textbook explicitly describes naturalistic observation as observations done in natural or real-life settings where the observer makes no effort to control or manipulate the situation. The context provides the complete process (Selection and Recording), the merit (studying behaviour in naturalistic situations as it occurs), and demerits (labour intensive, time consuming, susceptible to observer's bias).
Solution Steps
Step 1: Identify the method as Naturalistic Observation based on the description - observation in natural setting without control or manipulation.
Step 2: Explain the process using Selection (choosing particular behaviour) and Recording (using tallies, notes, photographs, video).
Step 3: State the merit - enables studying behaviour in naturalistic situation as it occurs.
Step 4: Discuss demerits - labour intensive, time consuming, and susceptible to observer's bias influenced by values and beliefs.