Types of observation in psychology

In this article we will consider such a common method of psychology as observation and carefully study its main types. We bring to your attention the classification of types of observation. There are so many categories to which the psychology observation method is divided, but from this article you will learn about the most common.

The four main types of observation

The main types of observation in psychology include:

• ordinary, it is also explicit, which refers to external observation, which takes place from the side;
• hidden, where the observer also notices the active activity of the studied group from the outside.

Also, the main types of observation in psychology include participating observation, it is often called included. There is a certain active group, and the observer participates in its activities, becoming at the same time a full and equal participant. In this case, his role as an observer may be as follows:

• hidden. At the same time, other members of the group are not aware of the activities of the observer.
• known. The activity of the observer will be explicit.

With included observation, the researcher does not actively influence the activities that he is studying. If the observer starts to influence the studied reality, then in this way he can disrupt its natural development.

The four types of observation listed above are not the only ones. There are other forms and types of observation. Let's get acquainted with them:

• everyday and laboratory;
• selective and continuous;
• direct and indirect;
• direct and indirect.

Systematic observation

There is also a systematic observation. In this case, the researcher makes a detailed, specific, structured plan. The observer notes the conditions of the environment, records the features of the behavior of the objects under study. After the experiment, the observer can draw certain conclusions and register the revealed behavioral features, as well as classify the received conditions of the external world.

It is impossible not to mention non-systematic observation. With this type of observation, a person organizes a general picture of the behavior of the object under study or a group of objects under specific specific conditions. As a rule, the observer has no goal to fix and strictly describe the phenomena that occur. It is carried out as a result of research in vivo.