SOC 14 - Self reports - questionnaires (MET)

Question 1

What is qualitative data?

Answer 1

Data that is expressed in words and non-numerical (although qualitative data may be converted to numbers for the purpose of analysis)

Question 2

What is quantitative data?

Answer 2

Data that can be counted, usually given as numbers (numerical data)

Question 3

What is self-report technique?

Answer 3

Any method in which a person is asked to state or explain their own feelings, opinions, behaviours and/or experiences related to a given topic

Question 4

What is a questionnaire?

Answer 4

A set of written questions (sometimes referred to as ‘items’) used to assess a person’s thoughts and/or experiences

Question 5

What are open questions?

Answer 5

Questions for which there is no fixed choice of response and respondents can answer in any way they wish. For example, Why did you take up smoking?. They tend to produce qualitative data that contains a wide range of different responses but may be difficult to analyse

Question 6

What are closed questions?

Answer 6

Questions for which there is a fixed choice of responses determined by the question setter. For example, Do you smoke? (yes/no). They tend to produce quantitative data. This data is easy to analyse but it may lack the depth and detail associated with open questions.

Question 7

What is a likert scale?

Answer 7

A scale which the respondent indicates their agreement (or otherwise) with a statement using a scale of usually five points. The scale ranges from Strongly agree to Strongly disagree

Question 8

What is a rating scale?

Answer 8

Gets respondents to identify a value that represents their strength of feeling about a particular topic

Question 9

What is a fixed-choice option?

Answer 9

Includes a list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate those that apply to them

Question 10

What is jargon?

Answer 10

Technical terms that are only familiar to those within a specialised field or area.

Question 11

What is emotive language?

Answer 11

Where there the researcher’s attitude towards a particular topic is clear from the way in which the question is phrased

Question 12

What are leading questions?

Answer 12

Guides the respondent towards a particular answer

Question 13

What are double-barrelled questions?

Answer 13

Contains two questions in one, the issue being that respondents may agree with one half of the question and not the other

Question 14

What are double negatives?

Answer 14

Questions that contain two negative words which can be difficult for respondents to decipher

Question 15

What are the different types of closed questions?

Answer 15

• Likert scale (e.g. strongly disagree up to strongly disagree)
• Rating scale (0-10)
• Fixed choice option (select number of choice)

Question 16

What are the strengths of questionnaires?

Answer 16

• Questionnaires are cost-effective. They can gather large amounts of data quickly because they can be distributed to large numbers of people (note that it is the number of people that is important as this determines the volume of data collected). A questionnaire can be completed without the researcher being present, as in the case of a postal questionnaire, which also reduces the effort involved.
• The data that questionnaires produce is usually straightforward to analyse and this is particularly the case if the questionnaire comprises mainly fixed-choice closed questions (contrast this with interview data, below). The data lends itself to statistical analysis, and comparisons between groups of people can be made using graphs and charts.

Question 17

What are the limitations of questionnaires?

Answer 17

• A major problem is that the responses given may not always be truthful. Respondents may be keen to present themselves in a positive light and this may influence their answers. For example, if asked ‘How often do you lose your phone?’, most people would underestimate the frequency. This is a form of demand characteristic called social desirability bias.
• Questionnaires often produce a response bias, which is where respondents tend to reply in a similar way, for instance, always ticking ‘yes’ or answering at the same favoured end of a rating scale (discussed on the next spread). This may be because respondents complete the questionnaire too quickly and fail to read questions properly. A particular form of response bias, acquiescence bias, is discussed on the right.