Self Report Techniques

Question 1

What are self report techniques?

Answer 1

They ask people about their own thoughts and feelings.

Question 2

What are the 2 main methods of self report techniques?

Answer 2

1. Questionaires
2. Interviews

Question 3

Give a strength of self report techniques.

Answer 3

• They allow for a greater understanding.
• The reseracher can discover thoughts and feelings rather than inferring.

Question 4

List 3 limitations of self report techniques.

Answer 4

1. They rely on the participants ability to reflect internally.
2. They lack generalisability.
3. They are vulnerable to demand characteristics and social desirability bias.

Question 5

What are questionaires?

Answer 5

• Written questions designed to gather information on a particular topic.
• They can be an objective and scientific way of conducting research.
• Always predetermined; structured questions.

Question 6

What do questionaires allow the researcher to do?

Answer 6

Discover what people are thinking and feeling directly.

Question 7

List 3 strengths of questionaires.

Answer 7

1. The data is easy to analyse.
2. They are cheap and easy to distribute.
3. They are easy to replicate; high reliability.

Question 8

List 3 limitation of questionaires.

Answer 8

1. Risk of social desirability bias.
2. The sample may be biassed.
3. Potential low response rate.

Question 9

What are unstructured interviews?

Answer 9

• Questions are made during the interview.
• Researcher may begin with general aims/few predetermined questions BUT subsequent questions are based on the answered given.

Question 10

What are unstructured interviews also known as and why?

Answer 10

Clinical interviews - may be similar to an interview/consultation had with a doctor.

Question 11

List 2 strengths of unstructured interviews.

Answer 11

1. Questions are flexible; can follow up any interesting/relevent points.
2. Gives a greater depth/insight into the issue being discussed.

Question 12

List 3 limitations of unstructured interviews.

Answer 12

1. Time comsuming; resulting in smaller sample sizes and less data.
2. Requires trained interviewers, which can be costly.
3. It’s harder to analyse/replicate due to changing questions.

Question 13

What are structured interviews?

Answer 13

• Predetermined questions.
• A questionaire BUT delivered face to face/over the phone, with no deviation from the original questions.
• Conducted in real time; interviewer asks the questions and the interviewee replies.

Question 14

List 4 strengths of structured interviews.

Answer 14

1. They are easy to replicate; high reliability.
2. The data is easy to analyse; data is quantitative due to closed questions.
3. Does not require specialist skills, like unstructured interviews do.
4. Quick.

Question 15

List 2 limitations of structured interviews.

Answer 15

1. They lack detail; only quantitative data is generated.
2. There is a risk of interviewer bias.