Self-report Techniques

Question 1

What are self-report techniques

Answer 1

Method in which a person is asked to state/explain their own feelings and opinions related to a given topic

Question 2

What is a questionnaire

Answer 2

Pre-set list of written questions to which participants respond, used to assess a persons thoughts and experiences

Question 3

Advantages of questionnaires

Answer 3

-cost effective as possible to gather large amounts of data quickly as can be distributed to large number of people
-can be completed without researcher present, decreases effort
-data produced usually easy to analyse and compare

Question 4

Disadvantages of questionnaires

Answer 4

-responses may not be truthful-social desirability bias(appear in positive light)
-response bias(tend to respond in similar way)-completing questionnaire too quickly and fail to read qs

Question 5

What are open questions

Answer 5

They do not have a fixed range of answers and respondents are free to answer in any way they wish. Produces qualitative data

Question 6

What are closed questions

Answer 6

Offers a fixed number of responses - produces quantitative data

Question 7

What are interviews

Answer 7

Live encounters(on phone or face-to-face) in which interviewer asks a series of questions to assess interviewees thoughts and experiences

Question 8

What are structured interviews

Answer 8

Made up of a pre-determined set of questions asked in a fixed order

Question 9

Advantage of structured interviews

Answer 9

Straightforward to replicate due to standardised format

Question 10

Disadvantage of structured interview

Answer 10

Not possible to deviate from topic and elaborate on their points=gain less insight

Question 11

What are unstructured interviews

Answer 11

No set questions but a general aim that a certain topic will be discussed and interaction is free-flowing meaning interviewee encouraged to expand and elaborate on their answers

Question 12

Advantages of unstructured interviews

Answer 12

-more flexibility meaning able to follow up points as they arise=gain greater insight into worldview of interviewee

Question 13

Disadvantages of unstructured interviews

Answer 13

-analysis of data difficult as have to sift through irrelevant info=may be hard to draw firm conclusion
-interviewees may lie due to social desirability

Question 14

What are Likert scales

Answer 14

Respondent indicates their agreement with a statement from strongly agree to strongly disagree

Question 15

What are rating scales

Answer 15

Respondents identify a value that represents their strength of feeling about a particular topic

Question 16

What are fixed choice option questions

Answer 16

List of possible options and respondents required to indicate those that apply to them

Question 17

How to conduct interviews

Answer 17

-interview schedule(list of questions) should be standardised to reduce interviewer bias
-conduct in quiet room away from people to increase likelihood that interviewee will open up
-start with neutral questions to relax pps and establish rapport

Question 18

Four common errors in writing questions and brief explanation of each

Answer 18

-overuse of jargon:technical terms that are only familiar to those within a specialised field
-emotive language and leading qs:phrased in way that authors attitude towards a particular topic is clear, guides respondents towards one answer
-double-barrelled qs:contain 2 qs in 1, respondent may agree with one half and not the other
-double negatives:difficult to respondents to decipher