Self-Report Techniques

Question 1

What are self-report techniques?

Answer 1

Self-report techniques are research methods in which participants give information about themselves without researcher interference - e.g not being present for some of the
techniques like questionnaires

Question 2

What is a structured interview

Answer 2

-> All participants are asked the same questions in the same order.
This provides quantitative data, which is data that can be counted or expressed numerically.
It usually consists of closed questions that have restricted answers

Question 3

Pros & Cons of structured interviews

Answer 3

Pros:
-> if participants misunderstand something it can be repeated and clarified
-> quicker than unstructured interviews
Cons:
-> risk of interviewer effect (due to interviewer’s appearance, manner, gender) therefore making data invalid
-> lack in depth data so may lack accuracy

Question 4

What is an unstructured interview

Answer 4

informal in-depth conversational exchange between the interviewer and interviewee.
- questions not preplanned, focused around themes
- provides qualitative, non numerical data
- usually consists of open questions

Question 5

pros and cons of unstructured interviews

Answer 5

Pros:
- more in depth data and useful for investigating sensitive topics

Cons:
- risk of social desirability bias and interviewer effect
- interviewers need to be trained to gain relevant data

Question 6

What is a semi-structured interview

Answer 6

A mix of both structures and unstructured techniques e.g both open and closed questions + some pre-planned questions and certain themes

Question 7

pros and cons of semi-structured interviews

Answer 7

pros:
- gain qualitative and quantitative data
- answers are high in validity and reliability

cons:
- theme answers may be irrelevant
- responses may be harder to analyse compared to structured interview

Question 8

What are questionnaires

Answer 8

Participants are given a pre-written set of questions and instructions on how to record their answers

Question 9

Pros and cons of questionnaires:

Answer 9

Pros:
- quick + easy + cheap for a large sample of data
- easy to replicate and therefore reliable

Cons:
- questions can be ambiguous and misunderstood with no one to clarify
- can have a low response rate especially if sent by post