Self-reports

Question 1

What is self-report?

Answer 1

A method of gathering data where participants provide information about themselves, such as their thoughts and behaviours, without interference from the experimenter

Question 2

What are the different types of self-report?

Answer 2

Questionnaires, interviews, diary entries, psychometric tests

Question 3

What are the different types of questions in a questionnaire?

Answer 3

Open and closed question

Question 4

What is a open quesion?

Answer 4

Provide qualitative data as the participant can respond in their own words, giving as much detail as they choose

Question 5

What is a close question?

Answer 5

Provide quantitative data as the available responses that the participant can give are limited. This means that response may lack detail, but can be easily quantified.

Question 6

What are the different types of closed questions?

Answer 6

Fixed choice, checklist, ranking, likert scale and semantic differential scale

Question 7

What is fixed choice?

Answer 7

The question is phrases so that the participant must choose a response from given choices, usually yes or no

Question 8

What is a checklist?

Answer 8

The participant is given a list of options to respond to the given question and are asked to choose one/ as many that apply

Question 9

What is ranking?

Answer 9

Participants must put a list of options into order as instructed by the question

Question 10

What is a likert scale?

Answer 10

Participants indicate on a scale how much they agree with a statement given

Question 11

What is a semantic differential scale?

Answer 11

The respondent must indicate which of two contrasting adjectives they agree with in regards to a statement given.

Question 12

What are the strengths of questionnaires?

Answer 12

Easy to administer, very large sample or population, time and cost efficient, easy to compare and analyse, personal perspectives and reasons, demand characteristics and social desirability bias are less likely, only way of getting data into certain topics

Question 13

What are the weaknesses of questionnaires?

Answer 13

Response bias (choosing only one answer for all), interpret questions differently or misunderstand them, difficult to analyse and categorise, may not represent the participants true answer

Question 14

What is an interview?

Answer 14

A series of verbal questions given face-to-face between an interviewer and an interviewee (the participant)

Question 15

What is a structured interview?

Answer 15

It has predetermined questions which are asked in exactly the same way and in the same order to each interviewee with no deviations. They use close-ended questions that cannot be quantified.

Question 16

What are the strengths of a structured interview?

Answer 16

Interviews are easily replicable, quick, ensuring methodological reliability

Question 17

What are the weaknesses of a structured interview?

Answer 17

Key details my be missed, quantitative and lacks detail

Question 18

What is a semi-structured interview?

Answer 18

Has guidelines on which questions to ask and topics to cover, by can deviate and vary with each individual according to what other relevant topics may be raised. They can contain open and closed questions and the timings and phrasing can vary with each interview.

Question 19

What are the strengths of a semi-structured interview?

Answer 19

Gain additional detail, data can be used for comparison to an extend

Question 20

What are the weaknesses of a semi-structured interview?

Answer 20

Difficult to use data in statistical tests, researcher bias can occur with the use of leading questions.

Question 21

What is an unstructured interview?

Answer 21

Only the topic of discussion are planned, with no particular questions being predetermined. All the questions are open and the process itself is more like a ‘guided conversation’ than a formal interview

Question 22

What are the strengths of an unstructured interview?

Answer 22

Increased concurrent validity as the interviewer can offer clarification or reword questions when needed so the information gained is truly accurate, questions can be altered, qualitative data is gained allowing high levels of detail

Question 23

What are the weaknesses of an unstructured interview?

Answer 23

Can’t create bias through leading questions or leading body language, time consuming for the interviews, analysing and categorising the data gained is harder

Question 24

How are diary entries useful?

Answer 24

For gaining vast amounts of qualitative data from a large sample quite quickly with minimal researcher bias or social desirability effects as the participant may be anonymous.

Question 25

How are diary entries not useful?

Answer 25

The data cannot be easily compared or statistically analysed

Question 26

What are psychometric tests?

Answer 26

They are series of standardised, closed questions that are designed to test and measure certain characteristics in order to use the data gained to compare and analyse the results from each participant. They are often used alongside job interviews to give a value that measures the individual’s cognitive abilities in relation to job tasks so that the applicants are compared in a more fair way.

Question 27

How to improve validity when using the self-report method?

Answer 27

Removing any leading questions, add open questions, ensure the sample is representative and unbiased

Question 28

What is test retest?

Answer 28

This is an efficient way of ensuring reliability when using the self-report method. The same participant is tested with the same measures over a period of time to ensure the consistency of the measure and the responses.

Question 29

What is split-half?

Answer 29

Tests the consistency of a measure by splitting a test in half. This is useful for psychometric tests of questionnaires. It ensures that each part of the test contributes equally to the results.