Time Sampling: A Methodological Critique

Numerous developmental studies of social behavior employ an observational technique called time sampling. This technique is used to estimate the frequencies and proportions of time that actual behaviors occur and to measure group or individual differences. By contrasting time sampling to continuous...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Child development 1991-04, Vol.62 (2), p.227-241
Main Authors: Mann, Janet, Have, Thomas Ten, Plunkett, James W., Meisels, Samuel J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Behavioral Sciences - methods
Biological and medical sciences
Child Development
Data Collection
Developmental psychology
Error rates
Event Analysis
Event frequency
Family Research
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Humans
Individual Differences
Infant
Infants
Interval estimators
Methodological Problems
Methodology (Data Collection)
Mothers
Musical intervals
Observation
Observation Techniques
Observational research
Observational studies
Parent Child Relations
Parent Child Relationship
Poisson Process
Primates
Proportions
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Research Design
Research Methodology
Sampling
Sampling methods
Selection Bias
Social Behavior
Time
Time Factors
Time Sampling
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Summary:Numerous developmental studies of social behavior employ an observational technique called time sampling. This technique is used to estimate the frequencies and proportions of time that actual behaviors occur and to measure group or individual differences. By contrasting time sampling to continuous sampling, we demonstrate that (a) time sampling is inaccurate for estimating actual durations or frequencies of behavior, and (b) resulting individual and/or group differences can change depending on whether time sampling or continuous sampling is used. Error rates are particularly high when the total bout lengths of the actual behaviors are short (as in mother-infant interactions) and/or when interval length is long. Because the majority of mother and infant behaviors are short in bout length (less than 60 sec), when percent error is the greatest, we suggest that alternative sampling methods that have proven validity be used in future studies (e. g., scan, point, or continuous sampling).
ISSN:0009-3920
1467-8624
DOI:10.2307/1130999