RESEARCH METHODS: Self report techniques

Question 1

what are self report techniques?

Answer 1

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

Question 2

What are questionnaires?

Answer 2

They are a set of written questions used to assess a persons thoughts and experiences. It assesses the dependent variable.

Question 3

What are the two types of questionnaires?

Answer 3

Open questions and closed questions

Question 4

What are open questions?

Answer 4

Open questions do not have a fixed range of answers. Respondents are free to answer in any way. It produces qualitative data that contains a wide range of different responses but may be difficult to analyse.

Question 5

What are closed questions?

Answer 5

Close questions offer a fixed number of responses. They are yes or no answers or ‘1-10’ answers. It produces quantitative data which is easy to analyse but may lack depth and detail associated with open questions.

Question 6

What are interviews?

Answer 6

Interviews are the live encounter where one person asks a set of questions to assess an interviewees’ thoughts or experience/

Question 7

What is a structured interview?

Answer 7

Questions are preset.

Question 8

What is a unstructured interview?

Answer 8

Questions may develop as interview goes along.

Question 9

What are semi structured interviews?

Answer 9

When there is a list of questions that have been worked out in advance but interviewers are free to ask follow-up questions.

Question 10

Evaluate questionnaires?

Answer 10

+ questionnaires are cost-effective. Large amount of data is gathered quickly because they are distributed to large numbers of people.

+Questionnaires can be completed without the presence of the researcher. (postal questionnaire reduces the effort involved)

+ Data produced is straightforward to analyse.
+ Data provides, statistical analysis and comparisons between groups of people.

• responses given may not be truthful. Responders may be keen to prove themselves in a positive light which may influence their answers. This means there are demand characteristics and social desirability bias.
• questionnaires often produce a response bias which is where respondents reply in a similar way. e.g always ticking yes, this is because respondents want to finish the questionnaire quickly.
• acquiescence bias - the tendency to agree with items on a questionnaire regardless of the content question.

Question 11

evaluate structured interviews

Answer 11

+ straightforward to replicate due to the standardised format.
+ standardised format also reduces the differences between interviewers.

-interviewers cannot deviate from the topic or explain questions, this will limit the richness of the data collected as well as limit un expected information

Question 12

evaluate unstructured interviews

Answer 12

+ there is more flexibility, the interview accounts follow-up points and more likely to gain insight into the world view of the interviewee, including collecting unexpected information.

• flexibility may lead to an increasing risk of interviewer bias.
  -Analysis of data from an unstructured interview is not straightforward. The research I may have to sift through the relevant information and draw conclusions which may be difficult.
  -there is a risk that interviewers may lie for reasons of social desirability.