Connected but Distanced
An educational psychologist wants to investigate the frequency of 'phubbing' (phone snubbing—looking at a smartphone instead of paying attention to the person one is with) among university students. They decide to use a naturalistic observation method in a campus cafe. The researcher sits nearby and observes pairs of students during peak lunch hours (12:00 pm to 2:00 pm) and records how many times individuals look at or touch their phones during their conversation.
Describe one strength of using the observation method in this study.
644 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Research methods and techniques. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.