ABSTRACT
Much has been made of the trade-offs in animal behaviour research between observing “natural” behaviour in the field vs. the “artificiality” of laboratory experimentation. Between these two extremes may lie several other alternatives that incorporate the best of both worlds. This chapter examines the strengths and limitations of study methodologies in comparative psychology experiments including field-based, semi-natural captive, and lab-based settings. We focus on considerations for the researcher arising before, during and after the study with examples from a broad range of perspectives and animal taxa. We also consider newer approaches such as digital video playback and robotics, with examples from our own research. Ultimately, questions regarding whether field-based studies or lab-based studies are more appropriate will depend on whether they are guided by the focal organism or a broader hypothesis, suggesting either a mixture of field-based and lab-based studies or the use of semi-natural captive studies or mesocosms.
