self-report techniques

Question 1

what is a self report?

Answer 1

involves asking participants about their own thoughts, feelings or behaviours

Question 2

what is a questionnaire?

Answer 2

set of written questions used to assess person’s thoughts / experiences

Question 3

what are the strengths of questionnaires?

Answer 3

● less time consuming - large amounts of data can be gathered quickly and researcher doesn’t have to be present

● if lots of closed questions used - easier to analyse

Question 4

what are the limitations of questionnaires?

Answer 4

● social desirability bias - people may lie to present themselves in a positive light

● response bias - if participants complete questionnaire too quickly and fail to read questions properly

Question 5

what are interviews?

Answer 5

a live encounter

Question 6

what is a structured interview?

Answer 6

● all questions are preplanned before interview

● researcher does not deviate from set questions

Question 7

what are the strengths of structured interviews?

Answer 7

standardised procedure format - easy to replicate, reduces differences between interviewers

Question 8

what are the limitations of structured interviews?

Answer 8

reduces insight - not possible for interviewer to ask follow up questions due to structured nature of questions

Question 9

what are unstructured interviews?

Answer 9

● run like free-flowing conversation

● majority of questions are spontaneous

Question 10

what are the strengths of unstructured interviews?

Answer 10

more flexibility as researcher can follow up points as they arise and gain more insight on the interviewees views

Question 11

what are the limitations of unstructured interviews?

Answer 11

difficult to replicate as standardised procedure is not used - questions may vary from person to person