Descriptive Analysis is intended to help us determine why a behavior occurs rather than how often a behavior occurs. In what situation would you elect to do a descriptive analysis and why or what are the pros and cons of descriptive analysis especially in a school / classroom setting.

A descriptive analysis can be used in many different areas of research. In the behavioral sciences, we often want to observe a behavior, rather than artificially set up a situation that leads to the behavior (Mace & Lalli, 1991). Many times we want to know why an individual behaves in a certain way and not just how often he or she does it. For example, as a teacher, one particular situation that I would elect to do a descriptive analysis is walk around the classroom and observes student behaviors. When students do not have to work on something, they may be more likely to engage in off task behaviors. By taking a few minutes every day, I can quickly record what types of off-task behaviors are most prevalent in my classroom. Also, I can then look at these interactions with the students who are engaging in the most off-task behaviors. I want to see if we are actually looking at the same things or if there is a disconnect between us that needs to be addressed…….Read More