How to present a naturalistic observation?
SEE MY PROFILE! 1) CAREFUL PLANNING IS REQUIRED. START BY WRITING AN ‘OPERATIONAL DEFINITION’: WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, AND HOW. 2) NEXT WRITE OUT YOUR RESEARCH HYPOTHESIS: NOT AN EXPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS IN THIS CASE. FOR INSTANCE, CHILDREN WHEN PLAYING IN A NURSERY WILL PLAY USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF PLAY, WHICH ARE SOLITARY PLAY, PARALLEL PLAY, ASSOCIATIVE PLAY, AND COOPERATIVE PLAY. 3) NEXT GET A PIECE OF PAPER, AND WRITE OUT THESE HEADINGS, FOR COLUMNS: SOLITARY PLAY, PARALLEL PLAY, ASSOCIATIVE PLAY, AND COOPERATIVE PLAY. THIS IS CALLED ‘CONTENT CODING.’ 4) OBSERVE THE CHILDREN PLAYING FOR APPROXIMATELY FIFTEEN MINUETS, AND PLACE A TICK IN EACH COLUMN, WHEN YOU SEE THAT TYPE OF PLAY OCCURRING. 5) COUNT THE NUMBER OF TICKS IN EACH COLUMN, AND WRITE DOWN WHICH HAD THE MOST TO THE LEAST TICKS. 6) EMERGENCY: ALWAYS DRAW A DIAGRAM OF THE OBSERVATIONAL SITUATION: SUCH AS THE PLAN OF THE ROOM, FOR INSTANCE, AND ALWAYS INCLUDE IT IN THE APPENDIX OF THE REPORT. 7) PRESENT YOUR FINDINGS B
