A developmental psychologist is investigating pro-social behaviour in a nursery. She observes a group of toddlers during a 30-minute30\text{-minute}30-minute free-play session and makes a tally mark every single time a child voluntarily shares a toy.
Which observational sampling technique is being used, and what is a key limitation of this method?
Time sampling, because behaviour is recorded continuously over a fixed duration, which can lead to researcher fatigue.
Event sampling, because every instance of the target behaviour is recorded, which may become difficult to manage if many children share toys at the same time.
Time sampling, because the observation is restricted to a 30-minute30\text{-minute}30-minute session, meaning infrequent behaviours might be missed.
Event sampling, because behaviour is recorded in a sequence of events, which prevents the researcher from establishing the overall frequency of the behaviour.
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.