Self Report Techniques Flashcards
Advantages of a questionnaires
Can be distributed to lots of people
Easily replicable
Close fixed choice questions are straightforward to statistically analyse
Disadvantages of questionnaires
Socially desirability bias
Anonymity can cause difficulty in know if pps told the truth
No oppourtunity to clarify questions or ask further questions
What are open questions
Respondent provides own answers expressed in words
Eg how are you finding psychology
What are closed questions
Respondent has limited choice or numerical answer
Eg how may hours do you spend on psychology homework
Analysis of open questions
+ responses are not restricted
- difficult to analyse
Analysis of closed questions
+ easier to analyse
- responses are restricted
How to write good questions
Avoid jargon
Avoid leading questions
Use appropriate language
Use filler questions
Analysis of interviews
+ better awareness of truthfulness of interviewee
+ can clarify questions
- risk of interviewer bias
- pps may be less likely to be honest face to face
What is a structure interview
A list of pre determined questions asked in a fixed order
What is an unstructured interview
No set questions general topic to discuss but interaction is free flowing and encouraged to elaborate
What is semi structured interview
A list of questions that have been worked out in advance but interviewers ask further questions based on previous answers
What should you consider during an interview
Quiet room- avoid distractions
Rapport- do not deceive orrr stress, answers must remain confidential consent obtained and not sensitive questions
Social desirability
Interviewer effect
What is social desirability
Giving socially favourable answers due to presence of the interviewer
What is interviewer effect
The effect of the interviewers presence has on answers causing bias
3 guiding principles when constructing questionnaires
Clarity- the reader must understand what is being asked
Bias- leading questions and social desirability can lead to bias
Analysis- questions need to be written so answers are easy to analyse
(Also: filler questions, sequence of questions, sampling technique, pilot stud)
How to carry out an interview
Recording interview- writing notes but any intervene with listening skills and make pps feel evaluated
Interviewer effect
Questioning skills
What is a case study
A detailed in depth analysis of an individual or group of
Tend to give longitudinal studies gathering large amounts of data from many sources
Idiographic method of researching behaviour
Strengths of case study
Rich in detail
Longitudinal so can see changes over time
Often used to support/challenge larger scale research
Limitations of case study
Can be prone to researchers bias
Very little population validity as can’t generalise to others
What is correlation
A method of data analysis used to find an association between 2 co variables
Draw the types of correlation
Perfect positive correlation
Strong positive correlation
Weak positive correlation
Zero correlation
A strong negative correlation
A weak negative correlation
What is a correlation coefficient
A number (between -1 and 1) which informs us of the strength and direction of the relationship betweeen 2 cco variables
What is the difference between correlation and experiment
Correlation only assesses relationships between 2 co variables
Experiment is looking for a significant difference
Analysis of correlation analysis
+useful starting point for research
+ relatively economical
- no cause and effect can be established
-Interviewing variables may explain the relationship seen lead to false conclusions
What is alternative hypothesis
No iv or DV
Still has to state expected relationship between co variables and operationalise them
Must be either directional or non
What is content analysis
Studying people’s characteristics indirectly through the communication they have produced
Produces quantitive data from qualitative
Steps involved in content analysis
- State the ams and hypotheses for study
- Decide on sample
- View the qualititive data and identify categories ‘
- Analyse data
What is thematic analysis
Any emerging themes that are recurrent in the communication are studied more in depth
Analysis of content analysis
+ detailed in depth analysis
+ compare easily
+ present results graphically
- subjective nature creating own categories- investigator bias
- time consuming
What are the types of categories in content analysis
Pre existing
Emergent
What’s a pre existing category
Set before research
What’s an emergent category
Emerge when examining
Start broad then revisit and narrow
What is meta analysis
Process of combining results from a number of studies on a particular topic to provide an overall view of topic
May involve quantitive or qualitative
Strengths of meta analysis
Allow us to create a larger more varied sample
Using secondary research reduces ethical difficulties
Weaknesses of meta analysis
Publication bias may leave out negative results
Secondary data means no knowledge of accuracy
