Self Report Techniques

Question 1

What are self report techniques?

How is it done?

Answer 1

Self-report techniques describe methods of gathering data where participants provide information about themselves.

This is done by asking participants questions.

Question 2

They are?

They are often used to investigate?

Answer 2

They are non-experimental methods and are often used to investigate experiences/beliefs/attitudes/thoughts or feelings of individuals.

Question 3

What are closed questions?

Answer 3

These are questions for which the researcher has determined the range of possible answers.

Question 4

What is the likert scale?

Answer 4

Likert scale – on which you indicate your agreement / disagreement with a provided statement on a scale of ‘strongly agree’ to ‘strongly disagree’.

Question 5

What is a rating scale?

Answer 5

Rating scale – works in a similar way but gets respondents to identify a value that represents their strength of feeling about a particular topic.

E.g. on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being ‘no pain’ and 10 being ‘worst pain possible’, rate your pain level.

Question 6

What is a fixed choice option?

Answer 6

Fixed choice option – this includes a list of possible options and respondents are required to identify those that apply to them.

Question 7

An advantage of using closed questions?

Answer 7

Quantitative data is quick to analyse, which means you can gather large amounts of data if you used closed questions in your self-report method.

Question 8

What is an open question?

Answer 8

Unlimited amount of responses

Question 9

What sort of data is gathered from an open question?

Answer 9

Qualitative data

Question 10

What are two examples of self-report methods?

Answer 10

Questionnaires and interviews

Question 11

Questionnaires and interviews can be used as?

Answer 11

Questionnaires and interviews can be used as ‘stand-alone’ research methods although they are also often used as a way of gathering further information about participants’ responses in other types of studies.

Question 12

What are questionnaires?

Answer 12

are written methods of gaining data from participants.

The researcher does not need to be present when a participant completes a questionnaire as they can be carried out online or distributed via post or email.

Question 13

What are interviews?

Answer 13

Interviews involve direct verbal questioning of the participant by the researcher.

Question 14

What are 3 types of interviews?

Answer 14

Structured interviews
Unstructured interviews
Semi-structured interviews

Question 15

Questionnaires +?

Answer 15

we can study people who are geographically distinct.

Question 16

Questionnaires -?

Answer 16

Questionnaires rely on people completing and returning them to the researcher.

Questionnaires require a certain level of literacy.

Question 17

Interviews strengths?

Answer 17

Structured interviews, like questionnaires, are straightforward to replicate due to their standardised format.

The standardised format also reduces differences between interviewers.

There is much more flexibility in an unstructured interview. The interviewer can follow up points as they arise and is much more likely to gain insight into the worldview of the interviewee, including eliciting unexpected information.

A skilled and experienced interviewer should be able to create a rapport between researcher and participant, allowing for the discussion of sensitive and personal topics.

Question 18

Interviews weaknesses?

Answer 18

Given the nature of structured interviews, it is not possible for interviewers to deviate from the topic or explain their questions. This will limit the richness of the data collected as well as limit unexpected information.

Analysis of data from an unstructured interview is not straightforward as the researcher may have to sift through much irrelevant information, and drawing firm conclusions may be difficult.

There is the risk of bias, including both interviewer bias, where the interviewer might control the discussion and interpret responses in the way that fits in with their expectations, and also social desirability bias when interviewees lie to ‘look good’.