Self-report techniques 📝 Flashcards
What are questionnaires?
Questionnaires are a type of ‘self report’ technique, where participants provide information relating to their thoughts, feelings and behaviours. They can be designed in different ways, and comprise of open questions, closed questions or a mixture of both.
What are open questions?
Open questions allow participants to answer however they wish, and thus generate qualitative data since there is not fixed number of responses to select from.
— Responses to these types of questions provide rich and detailed data which can provide insight into the unique human condition.
EVALUATION: Open questions
STRENGTH - LESS RESEARCHER BIAS
P: A strength of using open questions is that there is less chance of researcher bias.
E: This is especially true if the questionnaire is also anonymous, since the participant can swear the questions in their own words, without having to choose from a set number of responses provided by the researcher.
L: Consequently, there is less chance of the responses being influenced by the researcher’s expectations.
LIMITATION - SOCIAL DESIRABILITY
P: However, there are limitations of using questionnaires in psychological research.
E: Participants may answer in a socially desirable way, where they try to portray themselves in the best possible light to the researcher.
L: This means that the open response may lack validity as it is not their natural response.
What are closed questions?
Closed questions restrict the participant to a predetermined set of responses and generate quantitative data. There are different types of closed questions, including: checklists, liberty response scale and ranking scale.
EVALUATION: Closed questions
STRENGTH - QUANTITATIVE DATA
P: An advantage of using closed questions is the nature of the data collected which is quantitative.
E: This type of data makes it easy to analyse the results statistically or in a graphical format.
E: This is useful because direct comparisons can be made between groups of individuals.
L: This means that the researcher can look for patterns and trends in the data that can lead to further research being conducted.
LIMITATIONS - LACK OF INTERNAL VALIDITY
P: There are limitations to adopting a closed question format in questionnaire research.
E: By sticking to a predetermined list of questions, the researcher is unable to pursue and explore responses that are of particular interest. Additionally, closed questions, often produce a response bias.
E: This can happen because the participant doesn’t take the time to read all the questions properly and, for example, selects ‘yes’ for each of their answers.
L: This means that the data generated may lack internal validity.
What are the following factors that should be considered when designing questionnaires?
- Keep the terminology simple and clear
- Keep it as short as possible
- Be sensitive - avoid personal questions. If you must, collect personal information at the end.
- Do not use leading questions
- Do not use questions that make assumptions or sweeping statements
- Pilot and modify the questionnaire
What are interviews?
Interviews are another type of self-report technique which predominantly take place on a face-to-face basis, although they can also happen to over the telephone.
there are three types of interview designs:
1) Structured - take form of participants just answering a predetermined list of questions
2) Unstructured - more like a relaxed conversation between friends
3) Semi-structured - falls between the two
Responses are usually recorded, with the use of an interview schedule that the interviewer completes and/or audio or video recording with the informed consent of the interviewee(s).
What is a structured interview?
Structured interviews have the questions decided on in advance and they are asked in exactly the same order for each interviewee taking part. The interviewer uses an interview schedule and will often record the answers to each question by taking notes/ ticking boxed on their schedule.
EVALUATION: Structured Interviews
STRENGTH - QUANTITATIVE
P: A strength of using structured interviews in psychological research is that the qualitative (numerical) data is easier to statistically analyse.
E: This is useful because direct comparisons can be made between groups of individuals, meaning that the researcher can look for patterns and trends in the data.
L: Additionally, because the questions are standardised and asked in the same sequence every time to all participants, the interview is easily replicable to test for reliability.
LIMITATION - INVESTIGATOR EFFECTS
P: There may, however, be disadvantages of using structured interview method. It is possible that over the course of running several interviews following the same schedule with different participants, that investigator bias can play a role.
E: This is where the interviewer may, unconsciously, bias any response given to the questions they ask by their tone of voice, intonations, body language and so on.
E: Likewise, investigator effects can also occur between researchers where there is more than one researcher conducting the interview.
What are unstructured interviews?
Unstructured interviews are conducted more like conversations, with the interviewer only facilitating the discussion rather than asking set questions. Very little is decided in advance (only the topic and questions needed to identify the interviewee).
Therefore, this type of interview typically produces a large amount of rich, qualitative data. Answers will usually be audio or video recorded, as to write them all down as quickly as they were spoken would be impossible for the interviewer, and would also spoil the relaxed atmosphere of the unstructured interview.
EVALUATION: Unstructured Interviews
STRENGTH - VALIDITY
P: The use of structured interview can increase the validity of findings by significantly reducing the possibility of investigator effects.
E: The open question schedule in unstructured interviews means that the investigator does jot control the direction of the conversation to meet their own preconceived agenda.
E: Participants can justify their answers in their own owns and opinions, rather than trying to guess the aim of the study through any clues given.
L: This is useful because it reduces the possibility of participants displaying demand characteristics in their interview responses.
STRENGTH / LIMITATION - QUALITATIVE DATA
P: Unstructured interviews generate large quantities of rich and interesting qualitative data.
E: This allows the interviewer to clarify the meaning and gain further information from the participant if required, to fully understand complex human behaviour.
E: However, unstructured interviews are more time-consuming and costly, as this type of interview requires a trained psychologist to administer it.
E: A further issue with this method is that statistical analysis can be challenging, as the data collected is qualitative, making it more difficult to identify patterns and trends without undergoing a content analysis first.
What are semi-structured interviews?
Semi-structured interviews comprise of mostly prepared questions that can be supplemented with additional questions as seen fit by the interviewer at the time. As with semi-structured interviews, the interviewer can deviate from the original questions and consequently this type of interview also typically produces rich qualitative data.
EVALUATION: Semi-structured interviews
STRENGTH - VAlDITY + BIAS
P: The use of semi-structured interviews can increase the validity of findings.
E: The open questions in semi-structured interviews may encourage the participant to be honest in their answers, thus reducing social desirability bias as participants are able to justify their answers in their own words with opinions.
E: However, the interviewer still retains control over the semi-structured interview schedule compared to an unstructured interview, which can result in investigator effects that may then affect the behaviour of the participants negatively.
STRENGTH - QUALITATIVE DATA
P: Semi-structured interviews generate rich and interesting qualitative data.
E: As with unstructured interviews, this allows the interviewer to clarify the meaning of the participants’ responses and gain further information if required.
E: This provides unique insight into explaining human behaviour. However, as a result, analysis of such data can be more difficult, time-consuming and expensive to conduct, compared to quantitative data which is easier to statistically analyse with undergoing further processing beforehand.
What are the different types of self-report techniques (recap):
1) Questionnaires:
— Open questions
— Closed questions
2) Interviews:
— Structured
— Unstructured
— Semi-structured
