Transcript Selling an Idea or a Product

Field Research:
Naturalistic and
Case-Study Research
Graziano and Raulin
Research Methods: Chapter 6
This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by
law: (1) Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; (2)
Preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; (3) Any rental,
lease, or lending of the program.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Challenge of
Low-Constraint Research

Involves observation of participants in
their natural surroundings
– Can be difficult to observe behavior in natural
surroundings
– Often we are not sure what behaviors are
important until we begin observations
– Without the controls of the laboratory,
participants are free to do what they want to do,
and not what we are hoping to observe
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Naturalistic Observation
Examples





Darwin’s voyage on the HMS Beagle
(the data behind his theory of natural selection)
Goodall's study of chimpanzees
Levine’s study of the Love Canal
Davis’s study of public spanking
Rosenhan’s study of psychiatric
hospitalization
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Case-Study Examples





Freud’s study of patients while he formed
his psychoanalytic theory
Witmer’s study of children in the first
psychology clinic in North America
Piaget’s study of the development of
children
Phillips’s study of people with body
dysmorphic disorder (BDD)
First’s study of people with apotemnophilia
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
When to Use These
Methods






For questions involving the natural flow of
behavior
When first studying a research area
When testing the feasibility of a procedure
As a way of discovering contingencies
When interested in a single individual
To test the generalizability of laboratory
findings
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Information Gained
from These Methods




Provides new descriptive information
Can suggest hypotheses for later
higher-constraint research
Can negate a general proposition
Provides information about
contingencies
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Problem Statements
and Hypotheses

Problem statements are often general
and flexible in low-constraint research
studies
– Problem statements and hypotheses may evolve
(i.e, start out general and become more specific)
as the study progresses

Unable to test causal hypotheses with
low-constraint research
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Making Observations

Ways to observe behavior
– Unobtrusive observation: observing behavior
without participants’ knowledge
– Participant observation: observing behavior
while participating in the situation

Want to reduce measurement reactivity
– People behaving differently when observed


Reactive measures: enhance reactivity
Nonreactive measures: minimize reactivity
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Archival Records

Exist independent of a research study
– Kept for purposes other than research
– May be valuable in some research studies
– Examples: government records, school and
hospital records, census data, etc.


Access to such archival records are
restricted by legal and ethical constraints
Valuable data source for some studies
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Ethical Issues with Using
Unobtrusive Measures

Use of unobtrusive measures (including
archival records) raises ethical issues
– Participants are not given the right to say no
– Some of the archival records contain sensitive data

Researchers need to show the necessity for
unobtrusive measures and safeguards to
protect the rights of the participants
– Must have IRB approval
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Sampling of Participants

Try to obtain a representative sample
– Representative samples allow us to generalize
findings to the larger group

Sampling is often not under the control of
the researcher in low-constraint research
– Therefore, caution is required in interpreting the
results
– Generalize only to similar participants and NOT
to the general population
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Sampling of Situations

People (and animals) behave differently in
different situations
– To get an adequate picture of behavior, we need
to sample the behavior in many situations


Sampling many situations will indicate how
consistent behavior is
It also gives clues about what factors may
be affecting the behavior
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Sampling of Behaviors

Even in the same situation, people may
behave differently on different occasions
– Repeated sampling of behavior in a specific
situation will indicate the consistency of the
behavior

Repeated observation (essentially a
replication) prevents us from developing
theories based on a single, unusual
behavioral response
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Evaluating the Data

Low-constraint data sets are a rich source of
information
– Data usually needs to be coded (i.e., simplified
and organized)
– Analyses depend on the questions and the type
of data

Must be cautious in interpreting data from
low-constraint research
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Limitations





Poor representativeness
Poor replicability
Ex post facto fallacy
Limitations of the observer
Going beyond the data
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Poor Representativeness



Most low-constraint studies have
small, nonrandom samples
Rarely do the samples represent the
population
Consequently, it is dangerous to
generalize your findings too broadly
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Poor Replicability

Studies can be replicated only if
– The procedures are clearly specified
– The procedures were followed exactly

In low-constraint research
– Procedures are often not specified
– They may change as the study continues
– They are often unique to the observer

Therefore, replication is difficult
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Ex Post Facto Fallacy

Definition: Interpreting an observed
contingency as if it represented a causal
connection
– Low-constraint observation will never provide the
controls for such strong conclusions

If ex post facto conclusions are interpreted
as hypotheses to be studied, and not as
established facts, they serve a useful
scientific purpose
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Limitations of the
Observer


Low-constraint studies often rely on the
observational skills of the researcher
Detailed procedures are not specified
– Specific procedures decrease flexibility
– However, detailed procedures could constrain the
observer in a way that would limit experimenter
biases

Give up some control for the flexibility
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Experimenter Bias

It is difficult in low-constraint research
for the researcher to avoid influencing
participants (called Experimenter
reactivity)

Experimenter effects can be controlled
in higher-constraint research
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Going Beyond the Data




Low-constraint data are often intriguing
Nevertheless, one must be careful in
drawing strong conclusions
Rosenhan broadly over-interpreted his data,
even distorting the data
Interpretation should take into account
other information we know about a
phenomenon
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)
Summary


Low-constraint research provide
valuable information
Types of low-constraint research
– Naturalistic observation
– Case-study research

The inherent limitations of these
methods demand appropriate caution
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon (2007)