Method Types
Types of Methods of Observation
When a child demonstrates a behavior or type of behaviors, a teacher must decide which method of observation will be the best to use to gain the most raw data and objective descriptions to determine the next steps. There are some methods you will use daily and other methods that will be used less frequently. One example of a method used on a daily basis is the anecdotal record. Anecdotals are practical and useful for the classroom teacher. A method like time sampling can be used by classroom teachers, but on a must less frequent basis. There are eight methods that all early childhood educators should know, understand, and use in a classroom. These methods include:
- Running Records
- Anecdotals
- Time Sampling
- Event Sampling
- Frequency Counts
- Duration Records
- Checklists
- Rating Scales
Moving forward, we will include detailed descriptions on how to observe using the method, characteristics of each method, how to collect and organize your raw data, examples of formatting, and the advantages and disadvantages for each method.
Conclusion
Having a list before grocery shopping will keep you on track and make your experience more productive. When you observe young children, knowing your plan or method before you observe is critical to ensure you get the most from the observation. The observation process features, open-ended versus closed-ended, degree of selectivity, and the degree of inference are all critical for the observer to understand before observing. These features will be used when determining the appropriate method to use. The following chapters will explore each method in detail and give you specific examples of how to create a proper format for use in the
classroom.
References and Resources
- Bentzen, W. R. (2009). Seeing young children: a guide to observing and recording behavior (sixth). Thomson Delmar Learning.
- Merriam-Webster. (0AD). Inference. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/inference.
- Merriam-Webster. (0AD). Method. Merriam-Webster. https://www.merriam- webster.com/dictionary/method?src=search-dict-box.
