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16 - Behavioral Observation and Coding

from Part III - Deep Dives on Methods and Tools for Testing Your Question of Interest

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  12 December 2024

By
Katherine R. Thorson  and
Tessa West
Edited by
Harry T. Reis ,
Tessa West  and
Charles M. Judd
Harry T. Reis
Affiliation:
University of Rochester, New York
Tessa West
Affiliation:
New York University
Charles M. Judd
Affiliation:
University of Colorado Boulder
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Summary

We provide a practical overview of the most important steps of behavioral observation and coding, with a focus on how these processes are typically executed within social and personality psychology. The chapter has six main sections. We begin by explaining what is meant by behavioral observation and coding, and we outline the strengths and challenges of this method. We then describe two guiding principles that apply throughout observation and coding. Next, we highlight several aspects of observation and coding for researchers to consider, many of which vary along a continuum. We also discuss practical questions regarding coding, such as the number of coders needed. We describe the analysis of behavioral data – from establishing inter-rater agreement to running models with the coded behaviors as outcomes of interest. Lastly, we discuss concerns related to automated processing of videos and text and topics related to the open-science movement.

Keywords

behaviorobservationbehavioral codingvideo codinginterpersonal behaviorinterrater reliability
Type
Chapter
Information
Handbook of Research Methods in Social and Personality Psychology , pp. 378 - 403
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

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