Self-report techniques Flashcards
What is meant by a self-report technique?
A method in which a person is asked to state or explain their own feelings, opinions, behaviours etc related to a given topic.
What is a questionnaire?
A set of written questions used to assess a person’s thoughts and / or experiences.
What is an interview?
A ‘live’ encounter where one person asks the other a set of questions to assess the other’s thoughts and experiences.
A multiple choice quiz is an example of what?
A closed questionnaire.
Which technique involves a pre-set list of written questions to which the participant responds?
Questionnaire.
Which technique is typically used in a personality test?
Questionnaires.
What are the (main) two type so questions on a questionnaire?
Open and closed.
T / F:
A questionnaire may be used in an experiment to assess the dependent variable.
True.
Which type of question does not have a fixed answer?
An open question.
T / F:
Eyesnck’s personality test is an example of an open questionnaire.
False - it is a closed questionnaire.
Open questions tend to produce what type of data?
Qualitative data.
How are most interviews conducted?
Face-to-face.
What are structured interviews?
They are made up of a pre-determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order.
Which type of questions has fixed amounts of responses?
Closed questions.
Which type of interview is set-up such as a questionnaire?
Structured interviews - this is because there are a set of pre-determined questions asked in a set order.
Closed questions tend to produce quantitative data, what are the typical characteristics of this data?
Is usually numerical and easy to analyse, however, they tend to lack the details of qualitative data.
Which type of interview works almost as a conversation?
Unstructured interview.
T / F:
- Interviews are done face-to-face by an interviewer and interviewee/s.
False - they can be done over the phone.
What are the three types of interview?
Structured, Unstructured and Semi-structured.
Open questions tend to produce qualitative data, what are the typical characteristics of this data?
It is rich in detail but may be difficult to analyse.
In which interviews are there no set questions?
Unstructured interviews.
What are unstructured interviews?
An interview where there are no set questions, only a general aim that a certain topic will be discussed.
Which self-report method is conducted in real-time?
Interviews.
Which self-report method is carried out in the participants own time?
Questionnaire.
Which type of interview are made up of a pre-determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order?
Structured interviews.
Which type of interview tends to have flee-flowing interaction between the interviewer and interviewee?
Unstructured interviews.
Who is the interviewer?
The person asking the questions.
Who is the interviewee?
The person being interviewed.
Which type of interview is a hybrid between structured and unstructured interviews?
Semi-structured interviews.
Which type of interview are we most likely to experience in real-life?
Semi-structured interview.
AO3 - Strengths of questionnaires.
- Cost-effective.
- Gather large amounts of details quickly as they can be distributed widely.
- Completed on the participants own time.
- Data produced typically lends itself to statistical analysis.
T / F:
- A job interview is likely to be a structured interview.
False, it is likely to be a semi-structured interview.
AO3 - Cost-effectivity.
Questionnaires are cost-effective because they can produce large amounts of data when distributed widely, they are also relatively cheap to produce and distribute.
T / F:
- A job interview is likely to be a semi-structured interview.
True
What are semi-structured interviews?
An interview where there is a list of questions that have been worked out in advance but interviewers are also free to ask follow-up questions when they feel appropriate. They are also completed without an interviewer so there is no cost to produce them.
T / F:
- A job interview is likely to be an unstructured interview.
False, it is likely to be a semi-structured interview.
AO3 - Weaknesses of questionnaires.
- Responses may not be truthful, participants may lend themselves to demand characteristics and social desirability bias.
- A response bias may also be produced, where respondents typically reply in a similar way for each question.
AO3 - Social desirability biased.
A major negative of questionnaires are that responses may not always be truthful, respondents may respond to social desirability bias as they wish to present themselves in a positive light and this may influence their answers.
AO3 - Response bias.
Questionnaires often produce a response bias, where the respondents tend to reply in a similar way for each question.
Most interviews are which type?
Semi-structured.
What is it called where participants seem to have a favoured end of the a rating scale?
Response bias.
Why may a response biased occur in the results?
Because participants may answer to quickly and not properly read the questions.
Acquiescence bias is famously seen in which questionnaire?
The F-scale, (Adorno et al.).
AO3 - Strength of structured interviews.
Structured interviews are straightforward to replicate due to heir standardised format, the format also decreases differences between interviewers.
AO3 - Weakness of structured interviews.
The nature of structured interviews interviewers cannot deviate from their written questions and therefore frustration can occur when participants have more to say about certain topics.
AO3 - Weakness of unstructured interviews.
Data analysis is not straightforward and the researcher may have to sift through much irrelevant information and drawing firm conclusions may be difficult.
AO3 - Strength of unstructured interviews.
There is lots of flexibility which means that they can follow up and and we can gain insight into the worldview of the interviewee.
A good question has what features?
1) Clarity - no double-negative or double-barrel questions.
2) Bias - no leading questions.
3) Analysis - questions need to be easy to analyse.
