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?