Observational methods in psychology

Observational Methods in psychological research entail the observation and description of people's behavior.

Sampling Behavior

Time Sampling

Time sampling is a sampling method that involves the acquisition of representative samples by observing subjects at different time intervals. These time intervals can be chosen randomly or systematically. If a researcher chooses to use systematic time sampling, the information obtained would only generalize to the one time period in which the observation took place. In contrast, the goal of random time sampling would be to be able to generalize across all times of observation. Depending on the type of study being conducted, either type of time sampling can be appropriate. An advantage to using time sampling is that you gain the ability to control the contexts to which you’ll eventually be able to generalize. However, time sampling is not useful if the event pertaining to your research question occurs infrequently or unpredictably, because you will often miss the event in the short time period of observation. In this scenario, event sampling is more useful. In this style of sampling, the researcher lets the event determine when the observations will take place. For example, if the research question involves observing behavior during a specific holiday, one would use event sampling instead of time sampling.