1. Naturalistic Observation and Case-Study Research
Descriptive Methods

2. Naturalistic Observation Examples
Charles Darwin’s voyage on the HMS Beagle (the basis for his theory of natural selection)
Jane Goodall's study of chimpanzees
Dian Fossey’s study of the mountain gorilla
Adeline Levine’s study of the Love Canal
Rosenhan’s study of psychiatric hospitalization

3. Case-Study Examples
Sigmund Freud’s study of patients, which formed the basis for his psychoanalytic theory
E. L. Witmer’s study of children in the first psychology clinic in North America
Jean Piaget’s study of the development of children, which led to numerous theories of child development

4. When to use Descriptive Methods
Studying natural flow of behavior
New research area
Testing feasibility of a procedure
Testing generalizability of laboratory findings

5. Problem Statements and Hypotheses
Problem statements are often general and flexible
Often evolve to accommodate new results
Unable to test causal hypotheses with descriptive methods

6. Value of these methods Provide new descriptive information
Can negate a general proposition
Low cost

7. Challenge of Descriptive Research
Can be very difficult to observe behavior in natural surroundings
Often we are not sure what behaviors are important until after we have observed for a while
Without the controls of the laboratory, participants are free to do what they want to do, and not what we are hoping to observe

8. Evaluating the Data
The data from descriptive research is a rich set of information
Must be cautious in interpreting data
Limitations:
Poor representativeness
Poor replicability
Limitations of the observer
Going beyond the data

9. Poor Representativeness
Small samples; non-randomly selected
Rarely do the samples represent the population
Dangerous to generalize findings to the general population

10. Poor Replicability In descriptive research
Procedures are often not specified
They may change as the study continues
They are often unique to the observer
Therefore, replication is very difficult

11. Limitations of the Observer
Observational skills of the researcher
Ex. specificity of observation procedures
Specific procedures decrease flexibility
Non-specific procedures increase possibility of experimenter biases (experimenter reactivity)

12. Going Beyond the Data
One must be careful in drawing strong conclusions (don’t “over-interpret”)