Research Methods - Self Report

Question 1

Strengths of Questionaires

Answer 1

• can be easily repeated so that data can be collected from large numbers of people relatively quickly
• respondents may feel more willing to reveal personal/confidential information in a questionnaire rather than in an interview

Question 2

Weaknesses of Questionaires

Answer 2

• response bias may occur, such as always answering ‘no’ or always ticking the same box which leads to invalided results
• do not allow flexibility, unlike unstructured interviews as new questions cannot be added

Question 3

Open-ended questions

Answer 3

Allow participants to respond freely and in some depth if necessary (qualitative)

Question 4

Closed (fixed) questions

Answer 4

Restrict responses that participants can give as the respondent has a fixed number of possible answers (quantitative)

Question 5

Closed Questions - Rating Scales

Answer 5

Provide respondents with a simple numerical scale on which they can indicate the extent or strength of some measure.

Question 6

Closed Questions - Likert Rating scales

Answer 6

Allows participants to indicate how much they agree or disagree with a statement (e.g. agree, don’t know, disagree)

Question 7

Closed Questions - Semantic Differentials

Answer 7

Measure participant’s attitudes towards something (E.g. organised_____X_unorganised)

Question 8

Structured Interview

Answer 8

All questions are set.

Question 9

Strengths of Structured Interviews

Answer 9

• easily replicated

- can elaborate upon answers therefore providing a more detailed response

Question 10

Weaknesses of Structured Interviews

Answer 10

• interviewers expectations may influence the respondents answers
• more difficult to analyse than questionaires as respondents may provide different responses