self report techniques

Question 1

what are questionnaires?

Answer 1

participants provide info about their thoughts, feelings and behaviours

Question 2

open questions

Answer 2

• allow participants to answer however they want
• generate qualitative data

Question 3

evaluate open questions

Answer 3

+ less chance of researcher bias as they don’t provide a set number of responses

– may answer in a socially desirable way, may lack validity as it is not their natural response

Question 4

closed questions

Answer 4

• predetermined set of responses
• generate quantitative data
• e.g. checklist, likert response scale, ranking scale

Question 5

evaluate closed questions

Answer 5

+ quantitative data is easy to statistically analyse to make direct comparisons

– can’t explore answers of a particular interest

– often produces a response bias, so data may lack internal validity

Question 6

what are interviews?

Answer 6

• mostly done face-to-face
• can be over the phone

Question 7

structured interviews

Answer 7

• questions are decided in advance and are asked in the same order for everyone
• use an interview schedule

Question 8

evaluate structured interviews

Answer 8

+ quantitative data is easy to statistically analyse to make direct comparisons

– over the course of doing several interviews, investigator effects may play a role

Question 9

unstructured interviews

Answer 9

• more like a conversation, the interviewer only facilitates the discussion
• very little is decided in advance
• produces qualitative data

Question 10

evaluate unstructured interviews

Answer 10

+ increase validity by reducing the chance of investigator effects, as the researcher doesn’t control the direction of the conversation

+ generate lots of rich qualitative data

– statistical analysis is hard, must undergo content analysis to identify patterns and trends

Question 11

semi-structured interviews

Answer 11

• mostly prepared questions that can be supplemented with additional questions if required
• typically produces rich qualitative data

Question 12

evaluate semi-structured interviews

Answer 12

+ open questions may encourage the participant to be open, reducing social desirability bias

+ generate rich qualitative data, so the interviewer can clarify meanings and gain more info

– hard to analyse qualitative data without conducting content analysis before