Module 6 lab: Understanding behavior using correlational and observational methods.

The aim of the labs is to show that you understand the chapter content. Make sure you read the chapters before attempting the lab. Be sure to refer to chapter content and concepts wherever possible.

 Review the sample lab below to get an idea of the expected level of detail

Use this document  Module 6 lab worksheet.docx Download Module 6 lab worksheet.docx

Select a behavior of someone you know that you are interested in understanding, and with the aim of figuring out why it occurs, how to predict it or change it. For example, smoking, exercising, prejudice, arguing, swearing,  etc. It could also be the behavior of an animal, e.g., begging, digging, etc.

The only limit is that it must be a behavior, that is something people DO, something that can be observed, rather than an emotion such as anger, or psychological construct such as schizophrenia.

A. Briefly describe the behavior of interest and why you are interested in it, that is, what would you hope to be able to do after studying the behavior.

B. Design an observational study

1. Who would you observe? Be specific

2. What behaviors would you measure? Operationalize the behaviors clearly enough so any observer would agree that the behavior is or is not occurring. It may be one behavior, e.g., smoking cigarettes, or for a larger category of behavior, say ‘physical aggression’, you might operationalize it as shoving, tripping,  kicking, punching, biting, or slapping another person or animal.

3. Which observational research method would you use? Naturalistic observation, participant observation, or contrived observation? And why would that method be best given your behavior of interest and participant(s)?

4. Which method of measurement would you use to observe the behavior, frequency method, duration method, or interval method? Why?

5. Which sampling method would you use, time sampling, event sampling, or individual sampling? Why?

6. Describe one thing you would hope or expect to observe in the course of your study.

C. Survey research. Now apply a survey to the same behavior and if it is an animal behavior ansewer the question as if the survey would be for pet owners, or animal handlers/trainers if wild animals.

1. Which types of questions would you want to use for your survey, open ended, restricted, or rating scale? Why?

2. Write two sample question, and write them poorly based on what you know about writing good questions.

3.  Explain what makes each a ‘bad’ question.

4. Improve each questions so it is well-written for a survey

5. Which mode of administration, mail, internet, telephone, or in person? Why?

6. How would you select a representative sample of relevant participants?

7. What is one thing would you hope to know after completing the survey? Be specific!

D. Correlational study: after you have gathered some information from yur survey and observational research you might do a correlational study to see if your behavior of interest is related to some other variable

1. What is one variable that might be related to your behavior of interest, and why would it be both related and important enough to study?

2. How would you measure each variable in a correlational design (for example, observing behavior, administering a questionnaire, getting a physiological measure of some kind?

3. What type of correlational relationship would you expect, include the direction and strength e.g., strong positive correlation, weak negative correlation, etc.

4. If there were no correlation what would be two interpretations of this outcome?

E. Of the three methods described above, which would be most useful for helping you develop an intervention to modify the behavior? Why do you think it would be best?

Sample Lab

A. Briefly describe the behavior of interest and why you are interested in it, that is, what would you hope to be able to do after studying the behavior.

I am going to study begging in my dogs. I hope that if I have a better understanding of the behavior I can reduce since it is annoying to guests.

B. Design an observational study

1. Who would you observe? Be specific

I would observe my two dogs, Franklin (aka Big Boy) and Penelope (aka Pesty Westie)

2. What behaviors would you measure? Operationalize the behaviors clearly enough so any observer would agree that the behavior is or is not occurring. It may be one behavior, e.g., smoking cigarettes, or for a larger category of behavior, say ‘physical aggression’, you might operationalize it as shoving, tripping,  kicking, punching, biting, or slapping another person or animal.

Begging will be operationalized as placing paw or nose on the leg of someone holding food, or barking while sitting or standing in front of a person with food or in front of a countertop or table with food on it.

3. Which observational research method would you use? Naturalistic observation, participant observation, or contrived observation? And why would that method be best given your behavior of interest and participant(s)?

I will use contrived observation, this would be best in order to create many opportunities to observe the behavior. (Note: I could also have said participant observation since they are my dogs and they would frequently be begging from me. I probably couldn’t do naturalistic observation unless I was observing someone else’s dogs.)

4. Which method of measurement would you use to observe the behavior, frequency method, duration method, or interval method? Why?

I would use the duration method and observe how many minutes the dogs spend begging during each of four daily observations that will occur during breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack times. This would be best since the duration of the begging can be more annoying than whether it occurs at all. (note: I could also make a good case for frequency, interval probably wouldn’t be so good for this particular study.)

5. Which sampling method would you use, time sampling, event sampling, or individual sampling? Why?

I would use individual sampling and observe Franklin during one period and Penelope the next and counterbalance them each day. I would use this method since there are two individuals and I might miss a behavior if I focus on both at the same time, and measuring and recording the behavior of both at the same time could be misleading if one begs a great deal more than the other. (Note: I could make a good case for any of the sampling methods.)

6. Describe one thing you would hope or expect to observe in the course of your study.

I would expect to see a high frequency of begging and they would beg from some people more than others.

C. Survey research. Now apply a survey to the same behavior and if it is an animal behavior answer the question as if the survey would be for pet owners, or animal handlers/trainers if wild animals.

1. Which types of questions would you want to use for your survey, open ended, restricted, or rating scale? Why?

I would use a rating scale so they are simple to interpret as compared to open ended questions.

Or, I would use open ended questions because  I want detailed responses…there is no wrong answer on which you use, and have a good rationale for why you use it.

2. Write two sample questions, and write them poorly based on what you know about writing good questions.

On a rating scale from 1 – 5 where 1 means agree, 2 means somewhat agree, 3 means neutral, 4 means somewhat disagree, and 5 means disagree.

Begging and licking people’s hands are serious dog behavior problems

Uninformed idiots who feed their dogs human food are part of the problem

3.  Explain what makes each a ‘bad’ question.

(for why these are bad questions, see the module 6 content for chapter 13)

4. Improve each questions so it is well-written for a survey

Begging is a serious dog behavior problem

Human behavior is partially responsible for Dog begging behavior

5. Which mode of administration, mail, internet, telephone, or in person? Why?

Mail – I have more control over who might respond

(or internet, I can reach thousands of people quickly, or telephone, I want to ask follow-up questions)

6. How would you select a representative sample of relevant participants?

I would obtain a mailing list of all people who have adopted a dog from two local shelters, or purchased a dog from two local pet stores, or purchased a dog from one of five local breeders so I would get a sample of people with different varieties or dogs, and probably different SES, and ethnicity based on where they got the dog.

7. What is one thing would you hope to know after completing the survey? Be specific!

How many people find begging to be problematic (or if people find punishment objectionable, or if they have successfully solved the problem of begging)

D. Correlational study: after you have gathered some information from your survey and observational research you might do a correlational study to see if your behavior of interest is related to some other variable

1. What is one variable that might be related to your behavior of interest, and why would it be both related and important enough to study?

I think begging will be related to people feeding their dogs human food.

2. How would you measure each variable in a correlational design (for example, observing behavior, administering a questionnaire, getting a physiological measure of some kind?

I would observe dogs interacting with their owners and owners’ guests. I would observe dog begging much as in the observational study above, except I would also observe how often humans feed the dogs following each instance of begging.

3. What type of correlational relationship would you expect, include the direction and strength e.g., strong positive correlation, weak negative correlation, etc.

I would expect a strong positive correlation between duration of bog begging and frequency of human feeding the dog.

4. If there were no correlation what would be two interpretations of this outcome (other than that they are not related)?

1. Begging is controlled by an additional variable, for example, it also depends on which human is feeding the dog, for instance they beg from the children and not the adults.

2. there is another variable with an even stronger correlation with begging such as breed of dog, type of food, etc.

(note, there are a number of possibilities, and they need to be plausible based on what you read in chapter 12)

E. Of the three methods described above, which would be most useful for helping you develop an intervention to modify the behavior? Why do you think it would be best?

Observational research, except I would want to observe more dogs than my own so I could look for patterns of begging behavior in a larger sample of dogs. (I could make a good case for the other methods too…)