Objective 4: Describe what constitutes valid and reliable observation especially with regards to operationalizing variables, experimenter bias,

demand characteristics, and unobtrusive measures.

In a world where different figures, charts, graphs, and statistics are constantly bombarding us, it is imperative that we keep in mind how reliable the source is, and what truly we are observing. Experimenter biases, or prior favor to one solution, can easily skew how we interpret data, or how we want to interpret data. For example, if I had been raised believing that there were aliens that lived on Mars my entire life and I began to search for life on Mars, it would be very likely that I would hope to find life on Mars. If I saw a shadow that seemed to resemble a foreign creature I might jump to the conclusion that there is life on Mars, because I want there to be life on Mars. o counteract these experimenter biases, we operationali!e variables for our observations to be constituted as valid and reliable. "esearchers use operational variables in order to create a clear and concise procedure for how they are going to observe, carry out, and describe their experiment. If I was to say that I recorded the information, it may be unclear of my methods of recorded said information. It could be interpreted that I jotted numbers down, took pictures of the experiment, took notes on what I saw, the list is endless. #ecause of this researchers use operational variables to make sure that their experiment can be replicated and carried out again with the same success. $fter operational variables have been obtained and experimenter biases have been defeated, valid and reliable observations are met again with another barricade% demand characteristics. hese characteristics entail artifacts that may cause the patient of the

experiment to unknowingly and unconsciously interpret the purpose of the lab, and form their own opinions which mold their behavior to fit their own schema. here are many

different variable that can effect the demand characteristics% rumors of the study& the patient may have already formed their opinion, which like experimenter bias can affect what you hope to achieve& the setting of the laboratory, if the patient is told to where goggles, the participant may infer that there may be a chance of harm& and any communication, verbal or nonverbal, between the researcher and participant may lead to these demand characteristics. o defeat these adversities that may obscure the validity or

reliability of an observation a researcher may do one of the following, deceive the participant so that he does not guess the purpose, have more than one participant to rule out any uni'ue interpretations, minimi!e contact with patient, and use unobtrusive measures. (nobtrusive measures are an attempt to conceal the difference between the independent and dependent variables. If the participant knew the goal of the experiment, he could fulfill the role of the )good participant* role and try to carry out the experiment to reach the desired effect, which could inadvertently construe the data. "esearchers need to use unobtrusive measures so that patients cannot form any of their own biases on how they should carry out their task. If the independent and dependent variables are not clear, this could help deter the participant from forming any preconceived notions. It is not wonder that psychological research is not yet fully recogni!ed as a foolproof science& there are a lot of humanistic variables that we just cannot control, but we can help to eliminate them with some of the measures listed above.

Psychology Tenth Edition in Modules

I used the text book for definitions and for outlines for some of the examples that I created and used for reflections+examples. http%++en.wikipedia.org+wiki+,emand-characteristics I used this website in order to expand my knowledge on demand characteristics and their pertinence to reliable observations.