Self Report, Questionnaires, Interviews Flashcards
what is an interview?
- method of gathering data through asking questions
- involved conversational exchange between interviewer and one or more other individuals
- useful in gathering detailed information and enabling flexible approach to questioning
what is an unstructured interview?
- less rigid
- interviewer may have some idea of the issues they want to explore
- questions not decided in advance
- questions form tend to be result of previous response given
what is meant by interviewer effects?
- may cause different responses
- the effects the interviewer has on the participants in the interview
what is a semi-structured interview?
- some prepared questions by interviewer which are supplemented by additional questions formed during the interview
- provide additional opportunities for interviewee to expand answers
what happens if closed questions are used in a structures interview?
quantitative data is gained
what data is an unstructured interview likely to produce?
qualitative data
what are the strengths of using an unstructured interview method?
- rich detail
- can identify emerging themes for future research
what is a structured interview?
- questions decided in advance
- may be “closed” (set responses e.g. agree/disagree) or “open” ( any response can be given)
what are the strengths of using a structured interview method?
- less time consuming
- easy to analyse - more predictable answers
- easily repeated
- quicker to gather much more data
what are the limitations of using a structured interview method?
- not rich in detail
- hard to compare if interviewer acts differently on different occasions - low reliability
- interviewers expectations may influence answers
- vulnerable to social desirability bias
what are the limitations of using an unstructured interview method?
- time consuming
- difficult to analyse - large amount of results
- require more skills
- expensive to produce - hiring well trained interviewers
- in depth questions may lack objectivity then predetermined questions
- vulnerable to social desirability bias
what is a survey/questionnaire?
asking a large sample of people on a specific topic at a specific point in time
- researcher must select representative sample if they want to make generalisations of their findings
what are the different ways of designing questionnaires?
they can be open or close (like interviews)
what is a pilot study?
- small, trial versions of proposed studies to test their effectiveness and make improvements
- helpful in identifying potential issues early
what are the evaluation points of a structured interview?
- quick so gather more data
- easy to analyse
- different interviewer style might make comparison of results difficult
