A friend of yours is absolutely convinced that he has a positive influence on the friendliness of conversations in which his is a participant. He has reached this conclusion on the basis of his everyday observations. You convince him that a systematic study is needed to confirm his hypothesis. Your friend [still smiling] carefully develops an operational definition of the friendliness of a conversation and records a rating for each of the next 50 conversations in which he is a participant. His results show that 75% of these conversations are rated 'very friendly,' 20% are rated 'friendly,' and 5% are rated 'neutral.' Your friend returns to you now convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has a positive effect on the friendliness of a conversation.
•Begin with a brief description of the different methods of observational research that are described in the reading
•Identify the type of observational method used in the study described above
•Do you accept your friend's conclusion about his having a positive effect on the friendliness of a conversation? Be sure to consider the issues of sampling and observer bias as you respond to your friend.
•How does the application of the scientific method influence your conclusions?
•Would you recommend a different method of observational research to get a more accurate description of what is going on? Which method? Why