Self-report Techniques

Question 1

Questionnaires

Answer 1

Pre-list set of written questions to which a participant responds. Psychologists use questionnaires to assess thoughts and/or feelings. A study may simply consist of a question to find out about the kind of dreams people have.

May be used to as part of an experiment to assess the dependant variable.

Question 2

Open and closed questions

Answer 2

Part of questionnaire.

Open question-no fixed range of answers and respondents are free to answer in any way they wish. Produce qualitative data- difficult to analyse.

Closed question- offers a fixed number of responses-normally yes or no or 1-10. Quantitative data-easy to analyse, may lack depth and detail.

Question 3

Interviews

Answer 3

Structure interviews-made up of pre-determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order.

Unstructured- like a conversation. No set questions. General aim that a certain topic is discussed, and interaction tends to be free flowing. Interviewee is encouraged to expand and elaborate their answers as prompted by interviewer.

Semi-structured- falls between the two types above. List of questions but interviewers are also free to ask follow-up questions based on previous answers.

Question 4

Strength-questionnaires

Answer 4

Cost-effective. Gather large amounts of data quickly because they can be distributed to large amounts of people. Researcher doesn’t need to be present.

Usually straightforward to analyse the data-especially if closed questions. Statistical analysis and graphs and charts.

Question 5

Limitations-questionnaires

Answer 5

Responses given may not be truthful. Respondents may want to present themselves well and this may influence their answer. Demand characteristics called social desirability bias.

Questionnaires often produce a respond bias, where respondents reply in a similar way, eg always ticking yes. Respondents want to complete quickly and fail to read questions properly.

Question 6

Evaluation-structured interviews

Answer 6

Straightforward to replicate due to standardised format . Format also reduces differences between interviewers. It is not possible for interviewers to deviate from the topic or explain their questions and this will limit the richness of the data collected as well as limit unexpected information.

Question 7

Unstructured interviews

Answer 7

More flexibility. Interviewer can follow up points as they arise. More unexpected info. May lead to interviewer bias. Also analysis of data from unstructured interview is not straightforward. May be useless info.

Risk that interviewers may lie for reasons of social desirability. However a skilled and experienced interviewer should be able to establish sufficient rapport with the participant so that even when sensitive and personal topics are discussed, any responses given are more truthful.