Lesson 3- Self-report Techniques Flashcards
What are self-report techniques?
when participants provide detail of their own feelings, thoughts or behaviours to the researcher
What are the two types of self-report techniques?
- interviews
- questionaires
What is an interview?
Involves the researcher asking questions in face-to-face situations
What is a structured interview?
All participants are asked the SAME questions in the SAME order.
What type of data do structured interviews provide?
QUANTITATIVE data
What is an Unstructured interview?
An informational in-depth conversational exchange between the interviewer and interviewee
What type of data do structured interviews provide?
QUALITATIVE data
What is a semi-structured interview?
type of interview that combines a mixture of STRUCTURED and UNSTRUCTURED techniques
What type of data do semi-structured interviews provide?
a mixture of QUANTITATIVE and QUALITATIVE data
State TWO advantages of interviews
(sensitive, clarification)
- COMPLICATED or SENSITIVE issues are best dealt with an interview
- If participants misunderstood a question, this can be CLARIFIED
State TWO disadvantages of interviews
(interviewer effects, social desirablity)
- There is a risk of interviewer effects (when the interviewer may inadvertently affect respondent’s answers). This can be UNINTENTIONAL may be as a result of the interviewer’s appearance, manner or gender
- Risk of social desirability bias-> respondent may lie or alter some of their answers to present themselves in a POSITIVE light
What is a questionaire?
participants are given a SET LIST of questions and instructions about how to RECORD their answers.
mainly focuses on individuals, behaviour, opinions, beliefs + attitudes
What are CLOSED questions?
questions that require participants to choose from FIXED responses
What type of data do CLOSED questions provide?
QUANTITATIVE data
Advantage of closed questions?
- researchers are able to COLLATE + display the information collected easily
What are OPENED questions?
questions that allow participants to answer in their OWN words
What type of data do OPEN questions provide?
QUALITATIVE data
Advantage of OPENED questions?
allow respondents to interpret questions as they wish + develop their responses in detal- lots of information is provided for the researcher
3 advantages of questionaires?
(large data, standard, closed)
- possible to collect LARGE amounts of data quickly + conveniently
- questionaires are STANDARDISED so it is easy to REPLICATE
-easy to score/ collate when the questions are CLOSED
3 disadvantages of questionaires?
(lack of clarification, response rate, biased)
- participants may misunderstand the question and the researcher is not there to CLARIFY
-Questionaires have a LOW response rate
-Questionaires can have a BIASED sample as they are only suitable to people who can READ + are willing to spend time on them
What are the 3 factors a researcher needs to take into consideration when writing good questions?
- Clarity
- Bias
- Analysis
Why is clarity important when constructing quesitons?
questions should be clear so that the participants know what is being asked-> ambiguity should be AVOIDED
Why is avoiding BIAS important when constructing questions?
bias may lead the respondent to give a particular answer (e.g leading questions)
avoids social desirablity bias from respondents
Why is analysis important when constructing questions?
questions need to be written so that they are easy to ANALYSE
What are the factors a researcher needs to take into consideration when constructing good questionaires
- Avoiding FILLER questions
- Sequence of questions-> starting with easier and then harder
- Sampling technique-> use stratified sampling to avoid having a biased sample
- Pilot study
Why is recording an interview important?
less likely to interfere with the researcher’s listening skills (unlike note taking)
