| Behavioral categories | The general and specific classes of behavior to be observed in an observational study.
|
 |
|
|
| Interrater reliability | The degree to which multiple observers agree in their classification or quantification of behavior.
|
|
|
|
| Cohen’s Kappa | A popular statistic used to assess interrater reliability. It compares the observed proportion of agreement to the proportion of agreement that would be expected if agreement occurred purely by chance.
|
|
|
|
| Intraclass correlation coefficient | A measure of agreement between observers that can be used when your observations are scaled on an interval or ratio scale of measurement.
|
|
|
|
| Qualitative data | Data in which the values of a variable differ in kind (quality) rather than in amount.
|
|
|
|
| Naturalistic observation | Observational research technique in which subjects are observed in their natural environments. The observers remain unobtrusive so that they do not interfere with the natural behaviors of the subjects being observed.
|
|
|
|
| Ethnography | A nonquantitative technique used to study and describe the functioning of cultures through a study of social interactions and expressions between people and groups.
|
|
|
|
| Participant observation | An observational research technique in which a researcher insinuates him- or herself into a group to be studied.
|
|
|
|
| Nonparticipant observation | An observational research technique in which the observer attends group functions and records observations without participating in the group’s activities.
|
|
|
|
| Sociometry | A nonexperimental research technique involving identifying and measuring interpersonal relationships within a group.
|
|
|
|
| Sociogram | A graphical representation of the pattern of friendship choices.
|
|
|
|
| Case history | A nonexperimental research technique in which an individual case is studied intensively to uncover its history (for example, a patient in therapy).
|
|
|
|
| Archival research | A nonexperimental research strategy in which you make use of existing records as your basic source for data.
|
|
|
|
| Content analysis | A nonexperimental research technique that is used to analyze a written or spoken record for the occurrence of specific categories of events.
|
|
|
|
| Meta-analysis | A statistics-based method of reviewing literature in a field that involves comparing or combining the results of related studies. See also traditional literature review.
|