4: Self Report Methods

Question 1

Self-report may be better referred to as “verbal report,” as it includes _____.

Answer 1

Informant reports.

Question 2

Describe questionnaires versus interviews.

Answer 2

Questionnaires: responding to structured series of written questions.

Interviews: responding verbally to questions asked by an interviewer.

Question 3

When are open-ended questions and closed-ended questions typically used? Provide examples.

Answer 3

Open-ended: usually interview (e.g., “how do you feel right now?”); participant can respond with any verbal answer.

Closed-ended: usually questionnaire (e.g., “on a scale of 1-10, how anxious are you?”).

Question 4

What are two potential problems with neutrality in item wording? Provide an example for each.

Answer 4

Leading questions (e.g., “it seems obvious she was angry, don’t you think?”).

Implicit premises (e.g., “how long have you been shoplifting?”).

Question 5

Aside from neutrality, what are four other potential problems to watch out for in item wording? Provide examples.

Answer 5

Jargon/complex language (e.g., “have you ever experienced acute myocardial infarction?”).

Specificity (e.g., “do you binge drink?”).

Single questions (e.g., “do you feel anxious or depressed?”).

Brevity (e.g., multiple clauses and sentences).

Question 6

What are the five types of response scales for questionnaires?

Answer 6

Dichotomous scale (yes / no).

Likert scale (strongly agree to agree).

Unipolar scale (e.g., no pain at all to unbearable pain).

Bipolar scale (e.g., tired to energetic).

Visual analogue scale (e.g., not at all stressed to extreme stress; mark on like, measure distance in cm).

Question 7

What are two things to bear in mind when determining the number of scale points? How many are common?

Answer 7

More is better and avoids central tendency.

Too many makes it difficult for participants.

4-9 is common.

Question 8

What are two things to bear in mind when determining whether there should be a midpoint on your response scale?

Answer 8

Whether someone can be “neutral” on construct.

Forcing a choice has pros and cons.

Question 9

What is anchoring in response sets? What is an example of bad anchoring?

Answer 9

Needs to be equal distance in between scale points.

Bad anchoring:

1 = never
2 = a little bit
3 = almost always
4 = every day

Question 10

What are ways to deal with central tendency and acquiescence in response scales?

Answer 10

Central tendency: at least 5 scale points.

Acquiescence: reverse wording, reaction time.

Question 11

What are four ways to deal with social desirability in a response scale?

Answer 11

Social desirability scales.

Lie scales.

Forced choice.

Subtle items.

Question 12

List four advantages to questionnaires.

Answer 12

Standardized.

Respondents can fill out privately, on own time.

Confidentiality via code numbering system.

Cheap and quick to administer.

Question 13

List three disadvantages to questionnaires.

Answer 13

Limited in scope.

Biases such as social desirability and acquiescence.

Assumes self-knowledge.

Question 14

Interviews can follow an interview _____.

Answer 14

Protocol.

Question 15

What are three key features of interviews? How do these contrast with questionnaires?

Answer 15

Interactive, responsive, flexible.

Questionnaires are pre-formulated and standardized.

Question 16

When designing a semi-structured interview protocol, what are four things to bear in mind when developing sequence of topics/questions?

Answer 16

Conceptual or chronological framework.

Logical order.

Sensitive topics later.

From general to specific (funnelling).

Question 17

Aside from sequence, what is something else to bear in mind when designing a semi-structured interview protocol?

Answer 17

Prompts/probes to use as a memory aide.

Question 18

What are five prompts you can use when conducting an interview? Provide examples.

Answer 18

Encourage elaboration (“can you tell me a bit more?”).

Return to earlier points (“you said…, could I ask a bit more about that?”).

Give permission (“some people say that…”).

Encourage reticent respondents (“I’m interested in your views, there are no right or wrong answers”).

Communicate understanding (“right,” nodding).

Question 19

When conducting a qualitative interview, what are three ways you can use nonverbal language?

Answer 19

Nonverbal mimicry (matching body language; improves rapport).

No verbally communicate understanding (nodding, express appropriate emotions per participant’s story).

Eye contact (sometimes, but not constantly).

Question 20

Rapport and flexibility is an advantage to interviews. What are five things these things enable the interviewer to do?

Answer 20

Ask follow-up questions.

Ensure respondent answers all questions.

Give more complicated instructions, check they understand.

Vary order of questions.

Allow respondents to ask own questions.

Question 21

List five disadvantages to interviews.

Answer 21

Information overload (hard to analyze).

Time-consuming, often expensive.

Requires highly trained interviewers.

Open-ended questions often vague, unclear, or contradictory.

Complete confidentiality may not be possible.

Question 22

Broadly, observational methods attempt to eliminate _____ wherever possible. They involve systematic counting or timing of _____.

Answer 22

Inferences; behaviours.

Question 23

List three advantages of observation.

Answer 23

Direct, objective measure let’s researchers see phenomenon of interest as it happens.

Less ambiguity regarding what you are actually measuring.

Does not require participant’s awareness of behaviour.

Question 24

What are two disadvantages to observation?

Answer 24

Potential reactivity; people behave differently when they know they’re being observed.

Cannot directly observe some psychological variables (e.g., motivation).

Question 25

List five pragmatics of observation.

Answer 25

Operationally define behaviours, minimal inference.

Develop coding manual.

Recruit and train raters.

Check inter-rater reliability.

Code actual data.

Continuously monitor reliability.

Question 26

Emotions are operationally defined as one of 7 pre-defined sets of muscle movements in the face, as outlined in Ekman’s Facial Action Coding System. What are the 7 types?

Answer 26

Anger.

Happiness.

Sadness.

Fear.

Disgust.

Contempt.

Surprise.

Question 27

What are eight methods of quantitative observation?

Answer 27

Narrative recording: qualitative record using written words.

Event recording: overall frequency data.

Interval recording: frequency within intervals (e.g., number of behaviours every 5 minutes).

Time sampling: record at specific times.

Sequential act coding: code behaviours in chronological order.

Duration recording: record overall time behaviour took.

Global rating scales: overall judgement, usually by trained clinician (e.g., after interview, rates impairment from 0-100).

Unobtrusive measures: features of physical environment used to acquire data (e.g., wear and tear on edges of seat in heart attack clinic; seating distance in cm).