RM: Self Report Techniques, Correlations, and Pilot Studies

Question 1

what is a self report method?

Answer 1

any method where a person is asked to state or explain their own feelings, opinions or experiences related to a given topic

Question 2

what are the two types of self report method?

Answer 2

• questionnaires
• interviews

Question 3

what are questionnaires?

Answer 3

a set of standardised questions that are delivered to p’s. they are expected to fill them out themselves. they can include both open and closed questions

Question 4

what are open questions?

Answer 4

question where the participant can express their own ideas and opinions. they are no pre-determined answers and they produce qualitative data.

Question 5

what are closed questions?

Answer 5

questions that have a set of pre-determined answers. the participant simply has to tick a box, and they produce quantitative data.

Question 6

what are the three different ways a closed question can be asked?

Answer 6

likert scales
rating scales
fixed choice options

Question 7

what is a likert scale?

Answer 7

a scale that indicates the strength of an agreement (strongly agree to strongly disagree)

Question 8

what is a rating scale?

Answer 8

a scale that indicates the strength of a feeling eg. very funny to not at all funny

Question 9

what is a fixed choice option?

Answer 9

when the P just ticks the box that matches the closest
eg. how long have you been drinking alcohol? over one year? over five years? over ten years?

Question 10

what are the strengths of using a questionnaire?

Answer 10

• they can be easily distributed to p’s so the researcher can obtain a large sample to generate a lot of data
• questionnaires contain standardised questions which makes them easier to replicate so the researcher can check for reliability

Question 11

what are the weaknesses of using questionnaires?

Answer 11

• participants may not be honest on their questionnaire to appear in a more favourable light to the researcher = responding to social desirability bias, which affects the validity of the findings
• questionnaires may have complex questions that are difficult to understand, or leading questions which urge the participants to give a certain response. this can lead to invalid findings.

Question 12

what is a strength of open questions?

Answer 12

allow the p to express themselves and generate qualitative data that is rich in depth and and meaning. this can give the researcher a fuller understanding of the behaviour being studied

Question 13

what is a weakness of open questions?

Answer 13

the qualitative data that is produced is varied, and there is so much of it that it is very time consuming to analyse and draw conclusions from. the researcher may also misinterpret the data.

Question 14

what is a strength of closed questions?

Answer 14

the quantitative data thats generated is easy to analyse and draw conclusions from. its also easy to represent the data statistically which allows the researcher to visualise trends more clearly.

Question 15

what is a weakness of closed questions?

Answer 15

the p’s cannot fully express themselves and the researcher has already pre-determined the answers. the quantitative data produced lacks any deep meaning and so the researcher cannot get a full understanding of the behaviour being researched.

Question 16

what are the two types of interview?

Answer 16

structured and unstructured

Question 17

what is a structured interview?

Answer 17

when the researcher verbally asks pre-determined questions (like a questionnaire)

Question 18

what are the strengths of structured interviews?

Answer 18

• they contain standardised questions that are easy to replicate, so the researcher can check for reliability
• the interviewer can explain questions that the participants doesnt understand

Question 19

what are the weaknesses of structured interviews?

Answer 19

• participants can lie during interviews and not be completely honest, they may do this as a result of social desirability bias
• the presence of the interviewer can affect how the participant responds. also, the age/gender/ethnicity of the interviewer can affect responses too, and even the interviewers tone of voice. this is known as the interviewer effect.

Question 20

what is an unstructured interview?

Answer 20

• more like a conversation between the participant and the interviewer. there will be ‘themes’ that the interviewer will want to focus on, but no standardised questions.

Question 21

what are the strengths of unstructured interviews?

Answer 21

• they obtain rich, detailed qualitative data, allowing the researcher to gain a full understanding of the behaviour being investigated
• the researcher can steer the interview in any direction they feel is necessary.

Question 22

what are the weaknesses of unstructured interviews?

Answer 22

• the interview is not standardised and therefore very difficult to replicate, so tend to be unreliable as the findings are not consistent
• the qualitative data is very difficult to analyse and draw conclusions from when compared to quantitative data, and is very time consuming for the researcher to go through it all and interpret what the P has said

Question 23

why might filler questions be used when designing a self-report technique?

Answer 23

so the Ps dont guess the aim of the research

Question 24

what is a pilot study?

Answer 24

• a small scale, trial run of a method, done to ensure the participants will understand all the questions, materials and instructions before the main study is carried out.

Question 25

why are the variables not controlled in a correlational study?

Answer 25

because a correlation looks for a relationship between two variables, not cause and effect. so there are no iv’s and dv’s

Question 26

what type of graph is used when there is a correlation?

Answer 26

a scattergram

Question 27

what is a positive correlation?

Answer 27

when a high score on one variable goes with a high score on the other variable

Question 28

what is a negative correlation

Answer 28

when high scores on one variable goes with low scores on the other variable

Question 29

what is a no correlation?

Answer 29

when the scores on one variable are not connected in any way to the scores on the other variable - no relationship exists

Question 30

what are the strengths of correlations?

Answer 30

allows a relationship between two co-existing variables to be studied, when a controlled experiment may not be possible due to ethical/practical reasons

• it is also a good starting point for further research, as it deduces whether a relationship may be present, and if it is one worth investigating further

Question 31

what are the weaknesses of correlations?

Answer 31

• it is not possible to establish cause and effect between the two co-variables, as the researcher has no control over the variables being measured.
• correlations can be misused, as finding a correlation between two variables tells us very little other than a relationship exists. eg. the media often make claims based on correlations, but in reality the relationship could mean something completely different.