Self-reports Flashcards
What are self reports?
Methods of gathering data where participants provide information about themselves
Types of self report
-questionaires
-interviews
Two examples of questionaire
-FMPS
-the homes and rahe stress scale
What is a psychometric measure
Tests that have been assessed for validity and reliability
Strengths of self reports
-good qualitative data
-can help explain reasons behind behaviour
-easy way to gather large amounts of data
-wide distribution
-ask hypothetical questions
Limitations of self reports
-people might not have access to answer the question (memory)
-lots of prejudice and bias
-social desirability bias
-only useful if the p’s what to disclose info
-introspective reliablilty: understand their thoughts
-acquiescence bias: people just agree with positive questions
-subjective bias
What are questionnaires
Written self report teqnique where participants are given a present number of questions to respond to. They can be administered in person, post, online or to a group at the same time
How should the questions be designed
Progress logically from least to most sensitive and more general to more specific
The researcher needs to ensure that the questions dont affect eachother
cronbachs alpha - measure of internal consistency of items within a questionnaire
What types of questions are there
-Likert scale: strongly agree,slightly agree,strongly disagree,slightly disagree
-rating scale- 1,2,3,4,5,
Closed questions- yes,no
-open questions: describe a memory from your childhood
What are closed questions
When there is a certain amount of choices available to answer
What type of data do closed questions collect
Quantitative
Example of closed questions
Likert and rank scale
What are open questions
Allow participants to give full detailed answer with no restriction to what they can say
What type of data do open questions collect
Qualitative data
What are standardised instructions
A set of written or recorded instructions that are given to ensure that all p’s receive them in the same way
Why are standardised instructions used
To control and standardise the procedure to increase the reliability of the research
What are filler questions
Questions there to disguise the aim of the study and reduce demand characteristics
Strengths of questionnaires
-social desirability bias is reduced compared to interviews
What are limitations of questionnaires
-may not reflect p’s opinion
-less rich data
What is an interview
Involves the researcher asking the participants (usually 1-to-1) and recording their responses
What are structured interviews
Predetermined amount of questions, essentially a questionnaire but face to face
What are unstructured interviews
Has less structure may start with predetermined questions then new questions develop as the interview goes on
What are semi-structured interviews
Mix of both structured and unstructured interviews
What is an interview schedule
List of questions the researcher intends to cover
What is an interview transcript
Everything the p’s said during the interview
What are the strengths to structured interviews
-deeper understanding
-standardised- can be replicated
-consistent- reliability
-quick
Limitations to structured interviews
-cannot deviate
-Quantitive data
Strengths of unstructured interviews
-rich data
-flexibility
Limitations of unstructured interviews
-qualitative data
-demonstrate social desirability bias
Demonstrate flexibility
