GCSE Psychology · key term

Observer bias

Definition

The influence of an observer’s expectations or personal inclinations on which behaviours they notice and record.

Used by OCR

Paper 1, Paper 2

Observer bias occurs when the researcher’s expectations affect which behaviours they notice and record. For example, an observer expecting poor cooperation might notice refusals but overlook offers of help. This threatens validity because the record may reflect expectations rather than behaviour.
Revise: Observations
An influence of an observer’s expectations or personal inclinations on which behaviours they choose to observe and how they record or interpret them.
Revise: Sources of Bias

1
Distinguish the observer effect, where participants change their behaviour, from observer bias, where the researcher’s expectations affect what is recorded.
2
Keep observer bias separate from the observer effect: bias concerns the observer’s selection or interpretation of behaviour; the observer effect concerns participants changing their behaviour.
3
Match each improvement to the problem: neutral questions tackle questioning bias, while clearly defined behaviour categories tackle observer bias.

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