Self-report Methods Flashcards
1
Q
Asking people why they behave the way they do:
A
- questionnaires
- interviews
2
Q
Questionnaires
A
- Pre-set list of written questions to which participants responds.
- Could be used on their own or part of an experiment to assess the DV.
3
Q
open questions
A
- No fixed answers. Respondents can answer in any way they want.
- Produce qualitative data which is rich in detail but may be difficult to analyse.
4
Q
Closed questions
A
- Fixed responses.
- Easy to analyse ( quantitive data) may lack depth and detail.
5
Q
Types of closed questions
A
- Likely scale - Respondent indicates their agreement with a scale of usually 5 points.
- Rating Scale - respondents identify a value that represents their strength of feeling about a particular topic.
- Fixed choice option - a list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate those that apply to them.
6
Q
Strengths of questionnaires
A
- Can be anonymous.
- Easy way to collect data.
- Quick, easy, efficient.
- Sample sizes can be big.
- Cost-effective.
- Researcher doesn’t have to be present for postal questionnaires - little effort required.
7
Q
Limitations of questionnaires
A
- People can lie affecting validity of the study.
- People can’t expand on their answers.
- Demand characteristics.
- Social desirability bias.
- Response bias - replying in a similar way for all questions.
- Data may lack validity.
- Boredom, answering questions too quickly.
8
Q
Interviews
A
Usually face-to-face interaction between the researcher and participant.
9
Q
Unstructured interviews
A
- Works like a conversation - no set questions.
- Interviewee can expand and elaborate their answers.
10
Q
semi-structured interviews
A
A list of questions worked out in advance but follow-up questions can be asked
11
Q
Designing an interview
A
- Interview schedule - list of questions.
- Should be standardised to reduce risk of interviewer bias.
- Group interviews may be more appropriate in some cases.
- One-to-one interviews: quiet room away from people - participant more likely to open up.
- Start interview with neutral questions to relax participant and establish rapport.
- Remind interviewees their answers will be kept private.
12
Q
Writing good questions
A
- Don’t overuse jargon - keep questions simple.
- Don’t use emotive language and leading questions.
- Don’t use double-barrelled questions and double-negatives.