Self-Report Design

Question 1

What is an open question?

Answer 1

• Questions for which there are no fixed choice of response & respondants can answer in any way they want

e.g. “why did you take up smoking”

Question 2

What is a closed question?

Answer 2

• Questions for which there is a fixed choice of responses determined by the question setter.

e.g. “Do you smoke?” (yes/no)

Question 3

What is a likert scale?

Answer 3

• One in which the respondant indicates their agreement w a statement using a scale of usually 5 points
• The scale ranges from strongly agree to strongly disagree

e.g. Statement: Zombi films can have an educational value. 1strongly agree 2agree 3neutral 4disagree 5strongly disagree

Question 4

What is a rating scale?

Answer 4

• Similar to likert scale but gets respondants to identify a value that represents their strength of feeling about a particular topic

e.g. Question: How entertaining do you find zombie films? circle number that applies to you.
Very entertaining 1 2 3 4 5 Not at all entertaining

Question 5

What is a fixed choice option?

Answer 5

• Includes list of possible options & respondents are required to indicate those that apply to them.

Question 6

How do you design an interview?

Answer 6

• Most interviews involve an interview schedule which is the list of questions that the interviewer intends to cover
• This shld be standardised to reduce contaminating effect of interviewer bias
• Typically interviewer will take notes throughout the interview or alternatively, the interview may be recorded & analysed later
• Interviews usually involve an interviewer & a single ppt, through group interviews may be appropriate especially in clinical settings
• In case of a 1-1 interview the interviewer shld conduct the interview in a quiet room, away from other people as this will increase likelihood that interviewer will open up
• Good practice to begin interview w neutral questions to make interviewee feel relaxed & comfortable
• Interviewees may also be reminded on several occasions that their answers will be strictly confidential.

Question 7

When writing questions for questionairres/interviews what are common errors that shld be avoided?

Answer 7

• Overuse of jargon
• Emotive language & leading questions
• Double-barrelled questions & double negatives

Question 8

What is the overuse of jargon?

Answer 8

• Refers to technical terms that are only familiar to those within a specialised field or area e.g. following question includes jargon:
  “Do you agree that maternal deprivation in early childhood inevatibly leads to affectionless psychopathy in later life?”

This Q is unecessarly complex & unless a psych student a layperson would not be able to answer this

Question 9

What is emotive language & leading questions?

Answer 9

• Sometimes, a researchers attitude towards a particular topic is clear from the way in which the question is phrased:
  e.g. “Boxing is a barbaric sport & any sane person wld want it banned”
  &
  “Is it not obvious that student fees shld be abolished”
• In 1st example, words “barbaric” & “sane” are emotive & shld be replaced w more neutral alternatives
• 2nd example is a leading question as it guides respondant towards a particular answer

Question 10

What are double barrelled questions & double negatives?

Answer 10

Double-barrelled
- Double-barrelled question contains 2 questions in one , issue being respondants may agree w one half of question & not the other
- e.g. do you agree w following statement?:
Premier league footballers are overpaid & shld give 20% of their wages to charity

Double negatives
- Q’s that include double negatives can be difficult for respondents to decipher
e.g. I am not unhappy in my job (agree/disagree)