Self Report Techniques Flashcards
What is a questionnaire?
1) A set of written questions designed to collect information from participants on their views and opinions on one or more topics
2) researcher is not usually present
3) involves a large sample of target population
What are the features of a questionnaire?
1) instructions must be clear and simple
2) questions must be clear and simple
3) questions should be relevant and ethical
4) researchers should conduct a pilot study
What is an open question?
What is good/bad about open questions?
1) Allow the participant to answer in their own words and responses are not restricted
2) produces qualitative data
3) produce rich detailed data which reflects true feelings
4) makes data analysis difficult and potentially subjective
What is a closed question?
What is good/bad about closed questions?
1) provides participant with a choice of responses and asked to select the answer best representing their views
2) often but not always producing quantitative data
3) can be easily analysed allowing groups to be compared
4) data may not be accurate as participants are forced into selecting an option, so lacks detail
What are different types of closed questions?
1) likert scales - indicates extent to which they agree with a statement
2) rating scales - similar to likert scales but includes numerical values
3) fixed choice questions
What are the strengths of questionnaires?
1) large amounts of data can be collected relatively quickly
2) less interviewer bias as interviewer isn’t present
3) easy to analyse
What are the limitations of questionnaires?
1) social desirability bias where participants may not respond truthfully and instead respond in a way that portrays them positively
2) could create biased sample as certain types of participant are more likely to complete a questionnaire
What are the features of an interview?
1) Participants verbally answer a series of questions in real time
2) involve a smaller sample of population
3) potential limitation is social desirability bias
What is a structured interview?
A series asking a series of pre-pared questions in a fixed order where all participants are asked the same questions (participants can be asked both open and closed questions)
What are the strengths of structured interviews?
1) standardisation of procedure (easy to replicate)
2) less time-consuming than unstructured
What are the limitations of structured interviews?
1) it is not possible to follow-up unexpected issues that may arise restricting the mount of useful data that can be collected
2) risk of social desirability bias
What is a semi-structured interview?
Interviewers ask some pre-set questions which can be developed depending on participants’ responses (open and closed questions = qualitative and quantitative data)
What is an unstructured interview?
Interviewer does not ask a rigid set of questions and just has a topic they would like to discuss and aims to gather as much detail and description as possible
What are the strengths of an unstructured interview?
!) good rapport can be established between interviewer and participant due to ‘conversation-type’ format
2) can obtain detailed information which could provide insight for new areas of research
3) flexible and detailed
What are the limitations of an unstructured interview?
1) interpretation of data can be subjective making analysing difficult
2) more time-consuming than structured interviews
3) interviewer bias
4) social desirability bias
