Observation: differences in non-verbal behaviour
For my task, I will create a powerpoint that lasts approximately 10 minutes on the subject of
the rules of football. Each slide will explain the different offences and positive plays in
football and describe them in a way that is easy for the audience to understand. I will have a
group of 20 participants from a sixth form, who are separated into two groups of 10. Group
A will be a group of people who play for the school football team (the experts) and Group B
will be a group of people who have never played football (the non-experts). I will post an
advertisement on the school notice board asking for volunteers to participate in the study.
The advertisement will include a specific need for those in the school football team. This is
volunteer sampling. The participants would have 15 minutes each to prepare with the slides.
The presentation will take place with an unfamiliar audience to every participant, in an
unfamiliar classroom to the participants. This will increase the validity of the observation.
The behavioural categories that I’m using must measure the confidence differences
between the experts and the non-experts. For this reason, my categories will be focussed on
attributes that show confidence in presenting, or a lack thereof. Some of these categories
will be items such as looking at the floor, saying ‘um’, shaking, stuttering and crossing their
arms (a sign of little confidence). I will record this data by forming a table for each
participant, and drawing a tally every time one of these behaviours is exhibited, like so:
Behavioural category Tally
Looking at floor
Saying ‘um’
Shaking
Stuttering
Crossing arms
To establish the reliability of my observation, I will check for inter-observer reliability. I will
conduct a small-scale pilot study for my observation, in order to establish whether or not
my fellow observers are applying the behavioural categories in the same way as me. From
our results, I will establish a correlation. If the correlation coefficient is >.80, my observation
is reliable. If it is <.80, I will adapt or remove any items that are causing a problem.
Each participant is old enough to sign a consent form for themself, and so they will be given
one that outlines the task of the study and discloses a clear right to withdraw. will not
disclose to them the aim of the study (experts vs non-experts), as this may lead to demand
characteristics affecting the dependent variable. However, at the end of the observation
they will be given a full debrief, in which I will explain that they were mildly deceived and
offer them counselling for any humiliation or anxiety caused by the presentation, if
necessary.
For my task, I will create a powerpoint that lasts approximately 10 minutes on the subject of
the rules of football. Each slide will explain the different offences and positive plays in
football and describe them in a way that is easy for the audience to understand. I will have a
group of 20 participants from a sixth form, who are separated into two groups of 10. Group
A will be a group of people who play for the school football team (the experts) and Group B
will be a group of people who have never played football (the non-experts). I will post an
advertisement on the school notice board asking for volunteers to participate in the study.
The advertisement will include a specific need for those in the school football team. This is
volunteer sampling. The participants would have 15 minutes each to prepare with the slides.
The presentation will take place with an unfamiliar audience to every participant, in an
unfamiliar classroom to the participants. This will increase the validity of the observation.
The behavioural categories that I’m using must measure the confidence differences
between the experts and the non-experts. For this reason, my categories will be focussed on
attributes that show confidence in presenting, or a lack thereof. Some of these categories
will be items such as looking at the floor, saying ‘um’, shaking, stuttering and crossing their
arms (a sign of little confidence). I will record this data by forming a table for each
participant, and drawing a tally every time one of these behaviours is exhibited, like so:
Behavioural category Tally
Looking at floor
Saying ‘um’
Shaking
Stuttering
Crossing arms
To establish the reliability of my observation, I will check for inter-observer reliability. I will
conduct a small-scale pilot study for my observation, in order to establish whether or not
my fellow observers are applying the behavioural categories in the same way as me. From
our results, I will establish a correlation. If the correlation coefficient is >.80, my observation
is reliable. If it is <.80, I will adapt or remove any items that are causing a problem.
Each participant is old enough to sign a consent form for themself, and so they will be given
one that outlines the task of the study and discloses a clear right to withdraw. will not
disclose to them the aim of the study (experts vs non-experts), as this may lead to demand
characteristics affecting the dependent variable. However, at the end of the observation
they will be given a full debrief, in which I will explain that they were mildly deceived and
offer them counselling for any humiliation or anxiety caused by the presentation, if
necessary.
