Self Reports

Question 1

What is a self report ?

Answer 1

A method which involves asking participants about their feelings, attitudes and beliefs towards something E.G. questionnaire, interviews

Question 2

What is a questionnaire?

Answer 2

A type of self report that’s consists of a set of questions usually in a highly structured written form. Open and closed questions

Question 3

Strength of questionnaires ?

Answer 3

Reach large number of participants

Often encourages honest answers

Question 4

Weaknesses of questionnaires ?

Answer 4

Low response rates
Less flexible
Cannot judge body language

Question 5

What is an interview ?

Answer 5

A type of self report they can have pre determined questions or no pre determined questions the researcher records answers

Question 6

Strength of interviews ?

Answer 6

Can be altered (flexible)

Able to asses body language

Question 7

Weaknesses of interviews ?

Answer 7

Participants may be dishonest as they may feel more judged

Hard to reach lots of people

Question 8

What is a structured interview ?

Answer 8

When the reasearcher has pre determined questions and does not deviate from these during the interview

Question 9

Strengths of structured interview ?

Answer 9

All questions are relevant and gain relevant data

Less open to bias

Easy to compare people’s answers

Easy to replicate

Question 10

Weaknesses of structured interviews ?

Answer 10

Can feel to formal

Participants might not be honest

Less depth

Question 11

What is a semi structured interview?

Answer 11

An interview with some pre determined questions but new questions are created in response to the participants answers

Question 12

Strengths of semi structured interviews ?

Answer 12

The person being interviewed feels more comfortable

Gets relevant answers but also interesting ones

Question 13

Weaknesses of semi structured interviews ?

Answer 13

Can be time consuming

Might be biased

Hard to keep track

Hard to replicate

Question 14

What is an unstructured interview ?

Answer 14

An interview with no pre determined questions

Question 15

Strengths of an unstructured interview ?

Answer 15

Interview feels more comfortable

The person being interviewed is more likely to open up

Question 16

Weaknesses of an unstructured interview ?

Answer 16

More open to bias

Hard to compare peoples answers

Hard to replicate

Researcher could go off topic

Less relevant data

Question 17

What are open questions ?

Answer 17

Questions with no restricted response E.G. describe the last dream you can remember.

Question 18

Strengths of open questions ?

Answer 18

Gives the participant the option to answer how they like which leads to more accurate answers

In depth and detailed

Question 19

Weaknesses of open questions ?

Answer 19

Very hard to analyse and compare

Some of the answer may be irrelevant

Question 20

What are closed questions ?

Answer 20

Questions with a restricted response E.G. do you dream often (yes/no answer)

Question 21

Strengths of closed questions ?

Answer 21

Very easy to analyse and compare

All answers will be relevant

Question 22

Weaknesses of closed questions ?

Answer 22

No depth in answers

Might not reflect participants accurately

Question 23

What are rating scales ?

Answer 23

A type of closed question used to gather comparative information about something

Question 24

Strengths of rating scales

Answer 24

You know the strength of opinion

Easy to analyse

Gives number so can work out median

Question 25

Weaknesses of rating scales

Answer 25

Open to response bias

Less meaning

Question 26

What is a semantic differential rating scale ?

Answer 26

Measures a persons attitude towards something by putting something on a scale between two descriptive words

Question 27

Strengths of the semantic differential scale ?

Answer 27

Gives the scale more meaning

Easy to analyse

Question 28

Weaknesses of the semantic differential rating scale ?

Answer 28

Open to response bias

Might be hard for some people to understand E.G. children or language barrier

Question 29

What is a likert scale ?

Answer 29

A type of rating scale which allows people to indicate how much they agree or disagree with a statement

Question 30

Strengths of a likert scale ?

Answer 30

You know strength of opinion

Easy to analyse

Question 31

Weakness of likert scale ?

Answer 31

Open to response bias

Doesn’t give you a number

Question 32

What is response bias ?

Answer 32

When participants opt for the middle number on a scale to not show extreme bias

Question 33

Why is response bias a bad thing ?

Answer 33

Can ruin research

Shows no effort to contribute properly

Question 34

What is social desirability bias ?

Answer 34

When the participants change their behaviour to be seen as favourable / normal / desirable by others

Question 35

Why is social desirability bias a bad thing ?

Answer 35

Ruins research

Unreliable data

Question 36

What are demand characteristics?

Answer 36

When participants change their behaviour to suit the needs of the researcher

Question 37

Why are demand characteristics a bad thing ?

Answer 37

Can ruin research

Response bias