Self Report Techniques Flashcards
What are the 2 main self report techniques?
Questionnaire and interview
What are the different types of questionnaires?
Face to face
Internet
Phone
Written
Strengths of a questionnaire
Practical you can collect a lot of information quickly and cheaply
People are more likely to be honest if they are anonymous
Limitations of a questionnaire
Leading questions or unclear questions can be a problem
Bias sample- some people are more likely to respond making a sample unrepresentative
Self report- people often wish to present themselves in a good light and therefore respond in a way that they don’t think
Ethics- confidentiality could be an issue as subject may be sensitive
2 types of interview
Structured and unstructured
What is a structures interview
There are a fixed set of questions which are the same for all participants
What is an unstructured interview?
There are discussion topics but they are less constrained about how the conversation goes
Strengths of an interview
Rich data- you get more detailed information than you would in a questionnaire ( unstructured provide more detail than structured)
Pilot study- this is a good way to get information before a study
Limitations of a interview
The results can be unreliable due to social desirability
Impractical- time consuming, and required skilled interviewers
Analysing the data can be hard if there is a lot of qualitative data
Issue of confidentiality
What are case studies?
Intensive description of an individual or case
Strengths of case studies
Rich data- can provide lots of info on a rare phenomena
Unique cases can challenge existing ones and suggest ideas for future research
Limitations of case studies
Causal relationships can not be established
Informed consent may be an ethical issue
If only one case study has been studied it can be hard to generalise findings
