Observe something that is alive for this first practice observation. Preferably this will be a child but any human or animal will do. Use either an anecdotal or running record format to record your observation. Concentrate on clearly describing what you saw and include as many details as possible. Try to capture a careful description of a short observation period (1-3 minutes) rather than general details of a long observation period.

Divide your paper in half for this observation. Describe the setting and context of the observation - time, place, persons involved, general activity, etc.

On the left side, record a description of your subject and their observable behavior.

On the right side of the paper, record your comments and interpretation of what the subjects' emotions may have been or why he/she/it was acting as he/she/it was.

Refer to the texts and lecture notes for further information.

Limit your report to one page in length. It will not be given a letter grade but I will try to provide feedback that will help you with the graded observations.

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Observe behavior that can be counted in some way. This might be a frequency count of a behavior (yes/no) over a specified amount of time. You could also create a checklist of behaviors that were not present. Another possibility is to create a rating scale and rate the individual on the intensity or frequency of the behavior (such as 1 - 5). A time sample of behaviors is another possibility. Or you may try any of the other methods described in the text or lecture. You may measure the behavior of one person over time or compare the behavior of several people. Again describe the context and setting of the observation.

For this observation, compare the two types of observations (narrative and sampling). Which was the easiest? Why? What are advantages and disadvantages of each method of recording information? What kinds of bias might have shaped the information you gathered in each type of observation?

Again please limit this to one page.