7c) self report methods

Question 1

What are self-reports?

Answer 1

Methods of gathering data where participants provide information bout themselves
(E.g. their thoughts, opinions, feelings)

Question 2

What are two examples of questionnaires?

Answer 2

-interview
-questionnaire

Question 3

What is a psychometric measure?

Answer 3

Tests that have been assessed for validity and reliability

Question 4

What are the pros of self-reports?

Answer 4

-allows participants to describe their own experiences which provides rich, qualitative data about complex human behaviour
-reveals complexities of what is being studied
-can hep explain reasons behind behaviour -why is occurred
-can be an easy way to gather a large amount of data
-increase generalisability

Question 5

What are the cons of self-reports?

Answer 5

-participants may try to come across in the most socially acceptable way
-causes untruthful responses
-low validity of results
-only useful if the participants are willing to disclose the information
-people tend to agree with statements rather than what they believe (acquiescence)

Question 6

What are questionnaires?

Answer 6

A written self-report technique where participants are given a pre-set number of questions to respond to

Question 7

How can questionnaires be administered?

Answer 7

-in person
-by post
-online
-to a group in an experiment

Question 8

How should questions on a questionnaire be designed?

Answer 8

Progress logically from the least sensitive to the most sensitive

Question 9

What type of questions are there on a questionnaire?

Answer 9

-“Likert scale” - strongly agree / agree / disagree / strongly disagree
-“rating scale” - 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10
-“closed questions” - yes / no
-“open questions” - long, open answer

Question 10

What are closed questions?

Answer 10

Where there are only a certain amount of choices available to answer

Question 11

What type of data do closed questions collect?

Answer 11

Quantitive data

Question 12

What is an example of a closed question?

Answer 12

“What is your favourite colour - red, green or blue?”

Question 13

What are open questions?

Answer 13

Allows participants to give a full, detailed answer and there is no restriction on what the participants can say

Question 14

What type of data do open questions collect?

Answer 14

Qualitative data

Question 15

What is an example of an open question?

Answer 15

“What’s your favourite colour?”

Question 16

What are standardised instructions?

Answer 16

A set of written or recorded instructions that are given to the participant to ensure that all participants receive them in the same way

Question 17

Why are standardised instructions used?

Answer 17

As a control to standardise the procedure to increase the reliability and validity of the research

Question 18

What are filler questions?

Answer 18

Questions put into a questionnaire or interview to disguise the aim of the study

Question 19

What are the pros of questionnaires?

Answer 19

-social desirability is reduced
-anonymous
-large amounts of data can be collected
-quick
-increases representativeness and generalisability
-data can be analysed easier

Question 20

What are the cons of questionnaires?

Answer 20

-options may not reflect the participants opinions
-may be forced into answering something that doesn’t fully fit
-low validity of findings
-Quantative data
-less rich findings

Question 21

What is an interview?

Answer 21

Self-report techniques that involve an experimenter asking participants questions (generally on a one-to-one basis) and recording their responses
-> has predetermined questions

Question 22

What are structured interviews?

Answer 22

Essentially a questionnaire delivered face-to-face

Question 23

What are unstructured interviews?

Answer 23

Starts with some pre-determined questions then new questions may develop during the interview

Question 24

What are semi-structured interviews?

Answer 24

Mix of structured and unstructured - often the most successful approach

Question 25

What is an interview schedule?

Answer 25

A list of questions that the interviewer intends to cover
-> should be standardised for each participant to reduce the contaminating effect of interviewer bias

Question 26

How can researchers take notes?

Answer 26

Record the interview and analyse the responses later

Question 27

What is a transcript interview?

Answer 27

Any recordings that are then turned into written data

Question 28

What considerations need to be taken for interviews?

Answer 28

Choice of interview type should be driven by the research question

Question 29

What are the pros of structured interviews?

Answer 29

-can be replicated due to standardised questions
-reduces difference between interviews
-high reliability
-quick to conduct

Question 30

What are the cons of structured interviews?

Answer 30

-interviewers cannot deviate from the topic or elaborate on points
-mainly produces quantitive data
-lacks insight

Question 31

What are the pros of unstructured interviews?

Answer 31

-more flexibility allows for the collection of rich data
-offers a deeper insight
-allows interviewer to explore or seek clarification
-increases validity of findings

Question 32

What are the cons of unstructured interviews?

Answer 32

-difficult for interviewer to analyse
-lots of qualitative data
-researcher should demonstrate reflectivity
-interviewees may not be truthful due to social desirability
-lowers validity of the findings