Research methods Flashcards
What are 3 characteristics of scientific research?
Objective, independent of beliefs or opinions
What did Popper (1969) argue about scienfic theories?
That they should be falsifiable, in every experiment there should be an attempt to falsify it
How can psychological research affect the economy?
People with untreated mental health disorders may need more time off work research into treatment can help reduce this, and research into sleep behaviours can help shift workers
What is a Laboratory experiment?
Aim is to control all relevant variables except one key variable which is altered to see what the effect is (IV) always conducted in an artificial setting
standardised procedures
What are the advantages of lab experiments?
Effects of cofounding variables are minimised easy to replicate and its possible to establish a cause and effect relationship, low ecological validity
high internal validity (what measured is true)
What are the disadvantages of lab experiments?
Its artificial so doesn’t measure real-life behaviour, there’s the chance of demand characteristics and there often an element of deception used making informed consent hard
lack mundane realism
What is a field experiment?
Conducted outside of the lab, behaviour is measured in a natural environment and a key variable is altered to its effect can be measured
What are the advantages of field experiments?
Can establish a cause and effect relationship, there’s high ecological validity and demand characteristics can be avoided
mundane realism
What are the disadvantages of field experiments?
There’s no control over extraneous variables and element of deception used, participants normally don’t give consent to be observed sometimes causing distress
can’t randomly assign participants (participant variable can effect)
What is a natural experiment?
When the researcher looks at an IV which isn’t manipulated by the researcher and now it effects DV, IV isn’t manipulated because its and event which occurs naturally
What are the advantages of natural experiments?
It is possible to study variables what would otherwise be unethical as its naturally occurring, demand characteristics can be avoided and high ecological validity
What are the disadvantages of natural experiments?
Can’t identify cause and effect relationship as your not the one manipulating the IV, other variables may effect it and deception is often used making informed consent difficult
What is a Quasi experiment?
Researcher isn’t able to use random allocation to put participants into groups, as the IV is a particular feature of participants such as gender
What are the advantages of quasi experiments?
Carried out under controlled conditions, resulting in high ecological validity
only way to experimentally study factors that are pre-existing
What are the disadvantages of quasi experiments?
Can’t randomly allocate participants to a conditions meaning there’s no control over those variables (cofounding variables) making it hard to establish cause and effect relationships
What is a peer review
Process used to ensure the integrity of published scientific work
Before publication the work is sent to experts in the field to assess the quality of the work
What’s good about peer reviews
They help keep the scientists honest, if they set up their experiments it won’t pass peer review
Helps to validate conclusions
What’s bad about peer review
Sometimes mistakes are made and bad science is published
Peers may not publish work as its close to their own work/proves their work wrong
What have our currently accepted theories survived to be published
‘Trial by evidence’ meaning results are there to back them up
What is a paradigm
A set of principles, methods or techniques which define a scientific discipline
What did Kuhn (1970) say something must have to be a science
A paradigm
What is the paradigm shift
Some believe that psychology has a paradigm, it was initially behaviourism but then it underwent a change to cognitive psychology, this change is a paradigm shift
What is a naturalistic observation
Involved observing subjects in their natural environment
Researchers take great care not to interfere in any way with the subjects their studying
What are the strengths of a naturalistic observation
High ecogical validity, the RPS behaviour is natural and no demand characteristics
Useful in theory development
What are the weaknesses of a naturalistic observation
You can’t control extraneous variables
Observer bias, affecting what’s recorded or focused on
Participants haven’t given consent to be studied
What is correlational research
Looks for a relationship between 2 variables
All variables aren’t manipulated as in an experiment, it’s not possible to state that just these two variables rise and fall together there might be a third unknown variable
What are the strengths of correlational research
Causal relationships, these can be rules out if no correlation exists
You can study variables that would be unethical to manipulate
What are the weaknesses of correlational research
Casual relationships can’t be assumed from a correlation which may be caused by a third unknown variable
Ethics, misrepresentation can be an issue sometimes the media infer causality from a correlation
What are the strengths of a questionnaire
Practical as you can collect large amounts of data easily, quickly and cheaply
What are the weaknesses of a questionnaire
Some bad questions may be added, leading questions which suggest an answer
Biased sample, certain types of people are more likely to respond
Self report meaning people are more likely to show themselves in a good light
Ethics, confidentiality can be an issue
What is a structures interview
Follow a fixed set of questions that are the same for all participants
What is an unstructured interview
May have discussion topics but are less constrained about how the conversation goes
What are the strengths of an interview
Rich data can be gathered (detailed)
Useful way to gather info before a study (pilot study)
What are the weaknesses of a interview
Self report techniques, people might want to she themselves in a good light
It’s impractical as it’s time consuming and requires skilled interviewer
Analysis of the data can be hard
Confidentially can be a problem
What do case studies allow the researcher to do
Analyse unusual cases in a lot of detail
can be short (snap shot) or longitudinal
What are the strengths of a case study
Rich data can be collected as they have the opportunity to study rare cases
And unique cases can challenge existing ideas and theories
holistic high detail
What is a negative of case studies
They can’t establish a cause and effect relationship
Only studying a single case makes generalising the results extremely difficult
Informed consent can be difficult to obtain in some cases
can’t be generalised
researcher bias: researcher only used data supporting data
replication is hard
What is content analysis
A research method used to analyze secondary data and data you’ve already collect
It involves splitting the data into assigned categories
What are strengths of content analysis
It’s usually cheap and easy to do
Interpretation and categorizing the data can be subjective
What is an aim
A statement of a study purpose, research should state its aim beforehand so that it’s clear what the study intends to investigate
What is a hypothesis
a testable statement including levels of the IV and DV
not predictions just statements of facts that the researcher accepts or rejects
What are the 4 types of hypothesis
Null
Alternative
Directional
Non-directional
What is a null hypothesis
Is what your going to assume is true during the study
Any data you collect will either back up the assumption or it won’t
If the data doesn’t support you reject the null and go with alternative instead
Usually predicts there’s no significant difference
What is an alternative hypothesis
If data forces you to reject the null the you accept the hypothesis instead
What’s a directional hypothesis
A hypothesis might predict a difference between the exam results obtained by two groups of students
If the hypothesis states which group would do better than it’s making a directional prediction
What’s a non-directional hypothesis
A hypothesis that will state a difference but not a direction it would go in
Used when there’s no previous research
What is a variable
Is a quantity whose value can change
What is the independent variable
Is variable that’s directly manipulated by the researcher
What is the depended variable
Variable that you think will be affected by changes in the IV
What is meant by operationalisation
Variables must operationalised, this means describing the process by which the variable is measured
What does operationalisation allow
Allows others to see exactly how you’re going to define and measure your variables
What are the 3 experimental designs
Independed groups design
Repeated measure design
Match pairs design
What is an independent group design
Means there are different participants in each group
Avoids problem that if all participants did the test in both conditions any improvement in performance might be due to them having two goes at the task
What is an advantage of independent groups design
No order effects, no one gets better through practice (learning effects)
Mo one gets worse through being bored or tired (fatigue effect)
What is a disadvantage of independent groups design
Participant variables: differences between the people in each group might affect the result
Number of participants: twice as many participants are needed to get the same amount of data compared to having everyone do both conditions
What is meant by repeated measure design
Where all participants do the same task both with an audience and then without
You can compare the performance in each condition knowing the differences weren’t due to participant variables
What is an advantage of repeated measure design
Participant variables now the same people do the test in both conditions so any differences between individuals should affect results
Number of participants: fewer participants are needed to get the same amount of data
What is a disadvantage of repeated measure design
Order effects
What is a matched paired design
Means there are different participants in each condition but they’re matched on important variables
Participants are paired on a relevant characteristic such as age and then two members of the pair are randomly assigned to either conditions
What is an advantage of matched pairs design
No order effects different people in each condition
Participant variables: important variables are minimised though matching
What is a disadvantage of matched pairs design
Need twice as many participants
Time consuming
why should variables be controlled?
Avoid the effects of extraneous variables
what is counterbalancing
mixing up the order of the tasks
half the rps do the tasks in one order and the other do it in the opposite
what does counterbalancing help to eliminate
order effects in repeated measure design
what is random allocation
an example would be picking names out of hat
means everyone has an equal chance of doing either conditions
what does random allocation ensure
ensure groups are not biased
what does standardised instructions ensure
that the experimenter acts in a similar way to rps
what is randomisation
when the material is presented to the rps in a random order
what does randomisation avoid
order effects
why is it good to run a small pilot study first
no piece of research is perfect to help foresee any problems in actual research
gives researchers practise at following the procedures
problems can be tackled before running main study
what is a pilot study
small scale study can be run first, to establish whether the design works ect…
what is meant by reliability
refers to how consistent or dependable a test is
a reliable test carried out in the same circumstances on the same rps should get the same results
what are the 3 types of reliability
internal, external and inter-observer reliability
what is meant by internal reliability
different parts of the test should give consistent results
a test can be assessed using the split-half method
When testing internal reliability what is the split half method
splitting the test into 2 halves and the results from each half should produce a high positive correlation
what is meant by external reliability
the test should produce consistent results regardless of when its used
how do we test for external reliability and explain how to do it
test-retest method, involves repeating the test using the same participants
reliable test should produce high positive correlation
what is meant by inter-observer relaibility
test should give consistent results regardless of who administers it
how can you assess inter-observer relaibility
by correlating the scores that each researcher produces for each participant
high positive correlation should be found
what are the 4 types of validity
face. concurrent, ecological and temporal
what is meant by validity
refers to how well a test measures what it claims to
what is face validity
the extent to which the test looks to the participants like it will measure what it is supposed to
what is concurrent validity
the extent to which the test produces the same results as another established measure
what is ecological validity
the extent to which the results of the test reflect real-life
what is meant by temporal validity
the extent to which the test provides results that can be generalised across time
how can we assess validity
a quick way of assessing validity is to simply look at the test and make a judgement on whether it appears to measure which it claims to
comparing results of the test which the results of existing measure to determine validity
can be used to predict results future tests
what 2 ways can reliability validity can be increased
standardising research
operationalised variables
what does standardising research involve
involves creating specific procedures which are followed every time the test is carried out
what are operationalised variables do
clearly defining all of the research variables
what is a participant observation
when researcher participates in the activity under study
what is the advantages of participant observation
develops relationship with the group under study, so they can gain a greater understanding of group’s behaviour
what is the disadvantages of participant observartions
the researcher loses objectivity by becoming part of the group
the participants may act differently if they know a researcher is amongst them
what is a non-participant observation
is when the researcher observes the activity without getting involved in it
what is an advantage of non-participant observations
the researcher can remain objective throughout the study
what is a disadvantage of non-participant observation
the researcher loses a sense of the group dynamics by staying separate from the group
what is a structured observation
where the behaviour categories that are going to be used are defined in advance
what is an advantage of structures obseravtions
easier to gather relevant data because you already know what you’re looking for
what is a disadvantage of structures observations
interesting behaviours could go unrecorded because they haven’t been pre-defined as important
what are overt observations
where the researchers presence is obvious to the participants
what are the advantages of overt obserations
they are much more ethically sound than other methods because the participants are aware of the research
what are the disadvantages of overt observations
people might change their behaviour if they know they’re being observed
what is a covert observation
where the researcher’s presence is unknown to rps
what is an advantage of covert observations
Participants more likely to act naturally
what is a disadvantage of covert observations
gaining ethical approval may be difficult
what are controlled observations
often take place in lab so the researcher can control the conditions
what are advantages of controlled observations
because the study is highly controlled it is possible to replicate it to check that the results are reliable
a controlled environment means that extraneous variables can be controlled so it becomes possible for cause and effect to be established
what are the disadvantages of controlled observations
they will have lower ecological validity than naturalistic observations
participants may alter their behaviour if they know they are being observed
What must some one carrying out a naturalistic observations consider
Design of study considering how to
Record data
Categorise data
Rate behaviour
Sample behaviour
Inter-rated reliability
How should you consider recording of the data when carrying out a naturalistic observations
If you want qualitative data you could make written notes
But video or audio recordings mean you have more accurate permanent record
How should you consider categorising of the data when carrying out a naturalistic observations
You must define the behaviours you aim to observe involves operationalising variables
But be careful not to miss out anything important otherwise your definition may not be valid
How should you consider sampling of the data when carrying out a naturalistic observations
The behaviours that you’re interested in may be things that are a matter of degree so you might need to use a rating scale to classify behaviour
Put each participant’s behaviour into one of several categories/coding system
How should you consider when sampling the data when carrying out a naturalistic observations
Decide how often and for how long your going to observe the participants
Event/time-interval sampling
What’s event sampling and a positive/negative of it
This is when you only record particular events that tour interested in
+ Researchers know exactly what behaviour they’re looking for
- potentially interesting behaviours could be ignored
What’s time-interval sampling and a positive/negative of it
If the behaviour occurs over a long time period you might choose to observe for only a set time interval they should be chosen randomly
+ very convenient for the researcher to carry out
- if interesting behaviours occur outside the sample intervals they won’t be recorded
When doing a natural observation what should they observe about inter-observer reliability
Even after you’ve defined the behaviours your interested in you have to make sure that the observers are actually putting each participant in the right category
What are the 5 things you must consider when making a questionnaire/ interviews and why
Type of data- quantitative or qualitative/ open or closed questions
Ambiguity- you have to avoid questions and answer open tone which aren’t clearly defined
Doubled-barrelled questions- best not to use these as people may interpret them differently
Leading questions- they lead the participants towards a particular answer
Complexity- when ever possible use clear english avoiding jargon
With interviews what are 3 very important things to consider
How an interview is structured- informal or formal (less detail easier to analyse but not as data rich)
Using question checklist- if structured, a checklist ensures that no questions are left out
The behaviour of the interviewer- could influence participants behaviour
What’s random sampling and a positive and negative of it
Every member of the group has an equal chance of being chosen (random number generator/out of a hat)
+ less bias and makes it fair
- doesn’t guarantee a representative sample, still chance all people in the same group are chosen
What’s opportunity sampling and a positive and negative of it
When researcher samples whoever is available and willing to be studied
+ quick and practical
- unlikely to be representative can’t generalise
What’s volunteer sampling and a positive and negative of it
People actively volunteer to be in study (usually due to an advert) research may only select those suitable for study
+ large number of people may respond allowing for large sample and a more in-depth analysis
- only people who see the advert can be selected and you may get people all with the same characteristics e.g helpful
What’s systematic sampling and a positive and negative of it
Every nth name from a sampling frame is taken (school register)
+ sample and effective, people likely to be evenly sampled
- subgroups may be missed and it will not be representative
What’s stratified sampling and a positive and negative of it
This is where all the important subgroups in a population are identified and a proportionate number of each is randomly obtained
+ fairly representative sample formed can be used with random sampling
- takes a lot of time and money and some subgroups can be missed
What’s the Hawthorne effect
If people are interested in the something and in the attention they are getting then they show more positive response try harder at tasks etc
Making results artificially high and invalid
Opposite effects may occur if the RPS are uninterested in the task
What are demand characteristics
When theres aspects of the study that allow the participants to form an idea about the purpose
If they know when they act in a certain way to please experimenter or deliberately do the opposite
Making results invalid
What’s social desirability bias
People try to show them selves in the best possible light
So survey might not be completely truthful
Less valid
What’s researched bias
The researchers expectations can influence the design of the study and how they behave towards the RPS
Also might influence how they take measurements and analyse data
What are investigators effects
Anything that the researcher does which can affect how the RPS behaves
If a researcher’s expectations influence how they behave towards their participants then participants might respond to demand characteristics
Who provides ethical guidelines
British psychological society
What are the 5 ethical principles outlined by British psychological society
Informed consent
Deception
Protection from harm
Debriefing
Confidentiality
What are the BPS ethical guidelines around informed consent
Always given
Told about aims and nature of the study before agreeing
Right to withdraw must be given
What are the BPS ethical guidelines around deception
If participants are deceived they couldn’t have given informed consent
But sometimes psychologists much withhold info about the study because the RPS wouldn’t have naturally behaved
What are the BPS ethical guidelines around protection from harm
Say that risk of harm to participants should be no greater than they would face in normal life
Hard to accurately asses this
What are the BPS ethical guidelines around debriefing
Supposed to return the participant in the start they were in before the study
Especially important if deception occurred
Participants given a right to withdraw data
What are the BPS ethical guidelines around confidentiality
None of the PRS in study should be identified and have right to withdraw data
how can quantitative data be obtained
Categorising and rating behaviour
how may you get qualitative data
audio/video recordings
written notes on what the observers witnessed analysis isnt very straightforward
what would you consider no matter what type of data you have
1) there must be adequate data sampling to ensure representative sample of participants
2) language must be used accurately the words used to describe behaviours should be accurate and appropriate (operationalised definitions)
3) researcher bias must be avoided not good to just support theory as leads to biased interpretations
what should be considered about the data obtained from interviews
context- the situation in which a participant says something and the way they are behaving at the same time may be important
selection of the data- a lot of qualitative data may be produced by an interview which may be difficult for the researcher to summarise in a report
interviewer should be aware of how their feelings about the interviewee could lead to biased interpretations of what they say, or how it is later reported
what should be considered about the data obtained from questionnaires
questionnaires can give you both qualitative and quantitative data
important to distinguish the interpretations of the researcher from the statements of the participant and to be unbiased in selecting what to include
written analysis might be hard to find conclusions from
what type of data does closed and open questions give
closed- quantitative
open- qualitative
Whats thematic analysis
form of qualitative analysis it involves subjective decisions
its one of the most frequently used forms of qualitative analysis it involves making summaries of data and identify key themes and categories
how do you carry out thematic analysis
1) researcher becomes familiar with the dad and they start to look for different themes, they review these themes and name the themes and write a report
2) however, different researchers may read different things into the theme it can be subjective
3) such analysis may give the basis for hypotheses- hypothesis formation is therefore grounded in the data
strengths of thematic analysis
qualitative analysis preserves the detail in the data
creating hypotheses during the analysis allows for new insights to be developed
some objectivity can be established by using triangulation other sources of data are used to check conclusions
more flexible as no pre-determined themes
criticisms thematic analysis
how do you decide which categories to use and whether a statement fits a particular category?
how do you decide what to leave out of the summary or which quotations to use?
they are subjective decisions and researchers may be biased
subjective
whats content analysis
a way to qualify qualitative data
because of the detail that qualitative data can give some researchers prefer to avoid ‘reducing’ it to numbers
instead they analyse the data into categories or ‘typologies’, quotations or summaries
hypothesis may be developed during this analysis so that they are ‘grounded in the data’
how do u do content analysis
1) Representative sample of qualitative data is first collected from an interview, printed material or the media
2) Coding units are identified to analyse the data (e.g act of violence) a valid operationalised definition must be first given
3) Statistical analysis can then be carried out
strengths of content analysis
a clear summary of the patterns in the data may be established
once a coding system has been set up, replication is easy improving reliability
generalisable
easy to get the sample
limitations of content analysis
often an individuals judgment is used to define coding units so they can be subjective
reducing the data to particular coding units removing detail, and the true meaning of things may be lost when taken out of context
observer bias
lacks validity
what do descriptive statistics describe
the patters found in a set of data
what is a central tendency
average
used to describe an average
mean?
add all up and divide by how many there is
median?
middle score when put in order
advantage and disadvantage of mean
+shows most common or important score
+its always a result from the actual data set, so it can be a more useful or realistic statistic
-not very useful if there is several modal values
-can be skewed by anomalies
advantages and disadvantages of median
+ quick and easy
+not affected by anomalies
-not all the scores are used to work out the median
-it has little further use in data analysis
range
highest-lowest score
advantages and disadvantages of range
+quick and easy
-completely ignored the centre values of data set so it can be misleading if there are very high and low scores
-completely ignored the centre values of data set so it can be misleading if there are very high and low scores how can this be avoided
interquartile range is worked out
find median
if theres an odd number of values then you take the middle number as median
if theres an even number take middle two and add then and divide by 2
,median of lower is called lower quartile (Q1)
median of upper is called upper quartile (Q3)
IQR= Q3-Q1
whats standard deviation
measures on average how much scores deviate from the mean
standard deviation equation
sum of (x-x)2/N square root of this
second x is mean
advantage and disadvantages of standard deviations
+ all scores in the set are taken into account, so its more accurate than the range
+ it can also be used in further analysis
-not as quick or easy to calculate as the range
What is a correlation?
Measure of relationship between two variables
What’s a correlation coefficient
Number between +1 and -1 showing how closely related variables area
useful for describing both the direction and strength relationship between factors
What’s the correlation coefficient for pos, neg and no correlation
Pos- 0.75
Neg- -0.75
None- 0.01
0.8+ is seen as a strong correlation
What are the advantages of correlational research
Doesn’t involve controlling any variables, you can do it when you couldn’t do a controlled experiment
Gives idea for future research
Can be used to test validity and reliability
What are the disadvantages of correlational research
Can’t establish cause and effect Only shows statistical link between variables (doesn’t show causation) Care must be taken when interpreting correlation coefficients (could be due to chance)
What’s a normal distribution
A normal distribution is symmetrical about the mean
Meaning mean, median and mode are all the same
What’s positively skewed data
If pos skewed there’s a cluster of scores at the lower end of the data set
Curve has a tail on the right side of the peak (skewed to the right)
Mode is less than median which is less than the mean
Mode<median<mean
What’s a negatively skewed data
More scores at the higher end of the data set
Tail is on the left side of the data set data skewed to the left)
Mode more than median which is more than the mean
Mode >median>mean
What are tables good for
Good way to summarise quantitative data
Can be used to clearly present the data and show any patterns in the scores
Tables of ‘raw data’ show the scores before any analysis has been done
Other tables may show descriptive stats (mean, SD ect)
What are line graphs good for
Showing more than one set of data
Used with continuous data
Independent variable is plotted along the x-axis and dependent on the y-axis
They show plotted data points which are then joined up with straight lines
Useful to combine two or more line graphs on the same set of axes and easy to make comparisons
When are bar charts used
Used for non-continuous data
Shows mean number of words recalled by different groups in memory experiment
Bars don’t touch
When’s scattergrams used
Can tell you if two variables are related
Used when you’ve got two variables
One variable along the bottom of the graph ans second up the side
Good for showing correlation
When’s a histogram used
When you have continuous data
Shows time different participants took to complete a task
Each column shows a class interval and columns touch each other
It’s height of the column that shows the number of vales in that interval
Why are inferential statistics used
To rule out chance
What’s a type one error
When you reject the null hypothesis when it was actually true
Significance level gives you the probability of this happening
This is why significance levels are small
Type two error
When you don’t reject the null when it was actually false
This can happen if the significance level is too small
How to use critical values table
First must decide what type test (one or two tailed)
Observed value is then looked up in a critical values table
Read off the table
Make a conclusion about significance
What’s nominal data
Category data, a frequency count
What’s ordinal data
All the measure meant related to the same variable
Rating scale (who was more or less aggressive)
What’s interval data
Taken on a scale where each unit is the same
You know how far apart the data is and it’s on a ratio scald
When to use spearman’s rho
Ordinal data
Correlation
Greater than or equal to the critical values to be significant
When do you use Pearson r
Interval/ratio data
Correlation
df= N-2
Greater than or equal to the critical values to be significant
When to use Wilcoxon test
Ordinal data
Difference
Less than or equal to the critical values to be significant
When to use the sign test
Nominal data
Difference
Less than or equal to the critical values to be significant
How to do a sign test
Difference between scores calculated
Add up number of pos signs and neg signs
Observed value is the smaller one
Must be less than or equal to cv to be significant
When to do related t test
Interval data
Difference
df= N-1
Greater than or equal to the critical values to be significant
When to do an unrelated t-test
Interval data
Difference
df= N-2
Greater than or equal to the critical values to be significant
When to do a Mann-Whitney test
Ordinal data
Difference
Less than or equal to the critical values to be significant
When to do a chi-squared test
Nominal data
Independent sample
df= (no rows-1) x (no columns-1)
Greater than or equal to critical value is significant
What does chi-squared test tell u
The expected frequency tell you what the outcome would be if the null was true indicating that there would be no difference between groups
Observed are the actual results
If there’s a big difference there a larger chance that results are significant
How do you carry out a report on psychological investigations
1) title (includes IV and DV)
2) Abstract (concice summary about results and findings not having to read whole report)
3) intro (general overview of areas being studied)
4) aims and hypotheses
5) method (design, procedure, use of rps and resources used)
6) results (reported as descriptive of inferential stats)
7) discussion of findings ect
8) references
9) appendices (any material used)
whats an open question
(+/-)
question phrased in a way allowing the participant to answer in any way they choose
produces qualitative data
+ RPS have freedom to choose responses
- analysis is hard, hard to spot patterns
whats a closed question
(+/-)
phrased in a way that limited participant responses to only a few fixes options (yes or no)
produced qualitative data)
+ allows for easy analysis can spot patterns
- responses limited to a fixed set so less valid and doesn’t include thoughts and feelings of RPS
pos and neg of structured interviews
+ no trained interviewer needed
+ responses easy to compare due to same q’s
- responses cant be followed up with additional questions that provide more detail
pos and neg of unstructured interview
+ rapport is more likely the RPS more comfortable
+ interesting responses can be followed up with additional questions
- highly skilled interviewer. to think up appropriate questions
-every interview is different so results are hard to compare
pos and neg of semi-structured interview
+ easy to compare as same q used
+ able to ask follow up q’s
+ rapport is more likely
- highly skilled interviewer needed
what do self-report techniques suffer from
social-desirability bias
(people lie to be seen in the best light)
pos and neg of questionaries
+ doesn’t require trained interviewer
+ can compare many thousands of responses easily
-questions rps dont understand cant be rephrased
-acquiesce bias (saying yes to every question)
pos and neg of interviewer
+rephrase q
+build rapport
-skilled interviewer
-interviewer effects (different responses depending on interviewer characteristics)
how to test for acquiesce bias
ask the same question again later in the questionnaire but in reverse if they tick yes then its evidence of acquiesce bias
