self-reports Flashcards
what is a self report?
a method which involves asking participants about their feelings, attitudes, beliefs towards something
what is a questionnaire?
a research instrument consisting of questions for the purpose of gathering info from respondents
what is an interview?
a technique used to collect data on people’s thoughts etc. Involves social interaction, unlike questionnaires
what are the strengths of questionnaires?
- quick
- relatively cheap
- able to reach a large sample
- anonymity may encourage honest answers
what are the weaknesses of questionnaires?
- not everyone who receives the questionnaire will respond
- possible bias
- questions open to interpretation
what are the strengths of interviews?
- able to assess more than the responses, eg their tone
- can be altered based on participants response
what are the weaknesses of interviews?
- pts may alter their responses due to feeling judged by the researcher
- time consuming
what are the types of interview?
structured, semi-structured, unstructured
what are the types of questions?
open, closed, likert scale, semantic differential rating scale, rating scale
what is a structured interview?
when the researcher has pre-planned/ pre-determined questions and does not deviate from these during the interview
what are the strengths of a structured interview?
- all questions will provide relevant data
- easy to compare answers between participants
- easy to replicate
what are the weaknesses of structured interviews?
- formal, so participants may be uncomfortable
- lacks depth as participants may not be able to explain answers
what is a semi-structured interview?
an interview with some predetermined questions, but new questions are created in response to participants answers
what are the strengths of semi-structured interviews?
- flexible, researcher can build relationship with interviewee
- pts can expand their answers
what are the weaknesses of semi-structured interviews?
time consuming
hard to replicate
hard to compare some answers
what is an unstructured interview?
an interview with no predetermined questions
what are the strengths of of unstructured interviews?
flexible, researcher can build relationship with interviewee
what are the weaknesses of unstructured interviews?
time consuming, hard to replicate, hard to compare answers, data may not be relevant
what are the strengths of open questions?
- provide detail rich data
- pts can choose how to respond
- pts can justify and explain their answers
what are the weaknesses of open questions?
- hard to analyse + compare
- time consuming to code/quantify
- answers may be irrelevant
what are the strengths of closed questions?
- easy to analyse as its quantitative data
- all answers will be relevant
what are the weaknesses of closed questions?
- reductionist, lacks depth and detail
- may not reflect pts true thoughts and feelings, so they choose next best options
what are the strengths of rating scales?
- tells you the strength of the opinion in numerical form
- easy to analyse
what are the weaknesses of rating scales?
- open to response bias
- lacks depth and detail
what is a semantic differential rating scale?
measures a person’s attitude towards something by putting something on a scale between two descriptive words
what are the strengths of semantic differential rating scales?
- easy to analyse
- descriptive words give the scale more meaning
what are the weaknesses of semantic differential rating scales?
- open to response bias
- lacks depth + detail
- open to interpretation
what is a likert scale?
a type of rating scale which allows people to indicate how much they agree or disagree with a statement
what are the strengths of likert scales?
- tells you the strength of the opinion
- easy to analyse
what are the weaknesses of likert scales?
- open to response bias
- lacks depth + detail
- you have to process the data to add values before analysis
