self-report techniques Flashcards
self-report techniques
where the participant gives information to the researcher about their feelings, thoughts and behaviour
it involves responding to questions on a questionnaire or responding to questions during an interview
questionnaire
a questionnaire involves a pre-set list of written questions, used to gain information about the DV, to which the participant responds
Two types of questions that can be used in a questionnaire
open questions
participants choose how they answer the question, there is no fixed choice of response
closed questions
participants have a fixed choice of responses
for example Likert scale
fixed choice option item includes a list of possible options and participants indicate those that apply to them
open questions strengths
open questions allow the participants to give in-depth, detailed answers, so a lot of detailed qualitative data is produced
open questions allow the researchers to pursue a line of enquiry that they may not have predicted but which comes to light because of a response by an interviewee
open questions limitation
data collation and analysis is harder as answers may drift off to other topics and data had to be converted before statistical analysis could be used
closed question strengths
closed questions provide a limited range of answers, usually quantitative, which makes data collation and analysis easier, it also lends itself to statistical analysis
it also keeps all answers relevant and to the point, participants don’t drift off into other topics
closed questions limitations
participants answers lack detail, they can’t elaborate on their answers and sometimes this is useful in shedding light on other lines of enquiry that are not predicted
most interviews involve a face to face interaction between an interviewer and an interviewee, some may be conducted over the phone
