self report Flashcards
questionnaires features
person completing it known as respondent
written method of gaining data
researcher presence not required
interviews features
can be either structured,semi-structured or unstructured
the person being interviewed known as the interviewee
involves direct verbal questioning of the subject by a researcher
main strength of self report
unlike observations or expirements it can enable the researcher to access peoples thoughts into their behaviour
open questions
questions that ask participants to respond to a set question but leave a blank underneath so they can explain.
closed questions
give the answers to the participant and they have to choose the most appropriate answer for them
a+d of closed questions
a:easy+quick,data is easy to compare+analyse
d:can force participants to select an option which isn’t true for them,lacks reason for their answer
a+d of open questions
a:provides more rich detailed data, doesn’t force participants to give a particular response
d:time consuming to complete and analyse, responses may not be relevant to what the researcher is interested in
rating scales
investigate peoples attitudes towards something by getting them to mark at an appropriate point along a numeric dimension to indicate strength and direction of their attitude
likert scales
comprises statements for which participants indicate whether they strongly dis/agree,dis/agree or neutral.
how to control the standard response set in likert scales
select statements so in half ‘agree’ represents a positive attitude and in the other half a negative attitude.
what is an issue with likert scales
the number of intervals to include. a scale with an even number wont include neutral and can force the participant to have an opinion, reducing validity
semantic differentials
makes use of polar opposite terms
an attitude object will be given and the participant has to indicate between a series of bipolar adjectives where they would place their feelings in relation to the object.
s+w of structured interviews
s:high reliability,standardised,easy to analyse and compare
w:restrictive,superficial so low ecological validity
s+w of semi-structured interviews
s:quantitative and qualitative data, higher ecological validity, can ask additional qs to clarify
w:lower reliability, harder to compare
s+w of unstructured interviews
S:high ecological validity, high rapport between participant and interviewer, higher validity, qualitative data
w:low reliability, hard to summarise and analyse, hard to compare, time consuming
