Self Report Methods Flashcards
Self Report Measures
“Verbal reports” that include informant responses
Questionnaires
Responding to a structured series of written questions
Interviews
Responding verbally to questions asked by an interviewer
Open-ended questions
Usually in an interview; answer not constrained, informant can answer whatever they would like.
Closed-ended questions
Usually in an questionnaire. Had constrained answers usually, e.g. how anxious are you right now on a scale of 1-10?
Potential problems in item wording: Neutrality
Leading questions; it seems obvious she was angry, don’t you think?”
Implicit Premises: “How long have you been shoplifting?”
Jargon, complex, language.
Specificity: do you binge drink? do you have poor eating habits? what constitutes as either of these?
Dichotomous scale
Yes/No scale
Likert scale
Strongly disagree - strongly agree
Unipolar Scale
No Pain at all - unbearable pain
Two polar ends of a certain phenomenon
Bipolar scale
Tired - energetic
“Opposite ends of the spectrum)
Visual Analogue Scale
Not at all stressed ______________ Extreme Stress (mark on a line)
How many scale points should there be on a response scale?
More is better, however, too many makes it difficult for participants (4-9 is common)
Anchoring
There needs to be an equal distance between scale points. BAD ANCHORING:
1= never, 2= a little bit; 3= almost always, 4= everyday
Advantages of Questionnaires
Standardised (the wording is exactly the same each time).
Respondents can fill them out privately, in their own time. They can ensure confidentiality. Cheap and quick to administer
Disadvantages of Questionnaires
Limited in scope (may not be asking all of the questions you need to ask)
Self-report biases such as social desirability and acquiscence
Semi-structured interviews
Varying degrees of structure.
*Key features: interactive, responsive, flexible. Audio or visual recording
Protocol of a semistructured interview
Conceptual or chronological framework of topics/questions.
Prompts/probes
Use as a memory aide
Prompts to give when conducting an interview
- Encourage elaboration
- Return to earlier points
- Give permission
- Encourage reticent respondents
- Communicate understanding
Nonverbal language in an interview
- Nonverbal Mimicry
- Nonverbally communicate understanding by nodding, or expressing appropriate emotions
- Eye contact.
Advantages of interviews
Rapport and flexibility enable the interviewer to ask follow up questions, ensure respondent answers all questions, give more complicated instructions, vary the order of questions. Allow respondents to ask their own questions.
Disadvantages of interviews
- Information overload (hard to analyze).
- Very time-consuming and often expensive
- Requires highly trained interviews
- Open-ended responses are often vague, unclear, or contradictory
Quantitative Observational Methods
Involves the systematic counting or timing of behaviours. Usually requires multiple highly trained observers
Advantages of observation
Direct, objective measure of behaviour can let researchers see the phenomenon of interest as it happens.
Disadvantages of observation
Potential reactivity (people behave differently when they know they’re being observed). You can also not directly observe measures such as motivation.
Steps in observation
1) Operationally define behaviours
2) Develop coding manual
3) Recruit and train raters
4) Check inter-rater reliability
5) Code actual data
6) Continuously monitor reliability
Narrative recording
Qualitative record using written words. Describe the nature of a client’s phonic tics.
Event recording
Overall frequency data. “How many times did the client exhibit a phonic tic over a 30 minute interview?”
Interval recording
Frequency within intervals (Stop and get a total # of behaviors every 5 minutes)
Time sampling
Record at specific times (participant carries an EAR recorder all day, which records for 30 seconds every hour)
Sequential act coding
Code behaviours in chronological order, uncover all possible events, the code the order of events
Duration recording
Record how long overall behaviour took
Global rating scales
Overall judgment, usually by the trained clinician (the clinician rates how serious the clients’ impairment is from 0-100)
Unobtrusive measures
Features of a physical environment used to acquire data (wear and tear on edges of seat in heart attack clinic)