Self Report Techniques Flashcards
(14 cards)
Self report
Refers to any data collection techniques in which particpants provide information about themselves. Self report methods can be used as a part of another method or as the main research method
Evaluation of self report
✅ allows particpants to describe their own experiences rather than a psychologist inferring from observations
✅ large amounts of data can be collected quickly and cheaply, which can increases representativeness and generalisability
❌ social desirability bias can occur where particpants may lie to present themselves in a socially acceptable manner, reducing validity
❌ questions can often be leading
❌ questions/scales can be interpreted differently
Questionnaires
A set of questions that are written down and can be handed to particpants to fill out or done over the phone or internet. Psychologists use questionnaires to assess thoughts or feelings
Evaluation of questionnaires
✅ data can be collected quickly as researchers don’t need to be present
✅ more likely to be honest as they would feel anonymous
❌ validity could be low as respondents don’t always give truthful answers to avoid embarrassment or to be seen in a good light (social desirability bias)
❌ often produce a response bias where respondents reply in a similar way eg always ticking yes
What are open questions
allow the respondent freedom to respond and give them the opportunity to explain their answer, they generate qualitative data
Evaluation of open questions
✅ may provide unexpected answers, allowing researcher to gain new insights into peoples feelings
✅ better validity as respondents can answer truthfully rather than being forced to respond in a particular way
❌ time consuming and expensive to interpret and analyse
❌ hard to analyse and interpret so it is difficult to compare
Closed questions
give participant a limited range of responses to choose from, they don’t have to be multiple choice, they generate quantitative data
Evaluation of closed questions
✅ Provide quantitalive data and so resuls can be easily summansed, presented and compared between respondents
❌ respondents may be forced to select answers that dont represent their real thoughts or behaviour, lowering validity
❌ participants may often select don’t know meaning data collected is not informative
Types of closed questions
rating scales - a type or closed question where the participant has to rate their answer on a scale
Likert Scale - a type or closed question where respondents are asked to state on a scale how strongly they agree or disagree with something
fixed choice - a type of closed question where respondents are required to indicate which options apply to them
Constructing a questionnaire
When writing questionaires there are three guiding principles:
clarity - questions should be witten so the respondent understands what is being asked with no ambiguity
bias- leading questions may encourage a respondeni to give a particular answer. May also be the problem of social desirability bias
Analyse - questions need to be written so that the answers are easy to analyse. closed questions make this easy, open do not
Filler questions- may help to include some irrelevant questions to distract the respondent from main purpose
sequence for the questions - start with easy ones and save any anxiety producing ones until respondent is relaxed
Pilot study - questions can be tested on small groups so they can be refned in response to any dificulties
Interviews
Interviews can be structured or unstructured:
- structured interviews: have pre-set questions. They are like questionnaires delivered over the phone or face to face
- unstructured interviews; no set questions. There is general aim that a certain topic will be discussed and interaction tends to be free flowing
- semi structured: falls some where in the middle. List of question worked out in advance but interviewers also free to ask follow up questions
Evaluation of structured interviews
✅ can be easily repeated as questions standardised
✅ using same questions reduces differences in interviewers
❌ interviewers expectarions may influence the answer the interviewee gives, lowering validity
❌ interviewers cannot deviate from their questions or elaborate on points
Evaluation of unstructured
✅ more detailed info obtained increases validity
✅ access to info that may not be revealed by predetermined questions
❌ more affected by interviewer bias as more likely to ask leading questions lowering validity
❌ require trained interviewers so more expensive to produce replicable interviews
Designing interviews
- interviewer may write responses down or record it to analyse
- should be conducted in quiet room to encourage interviewee to open up
- start with some neutral questions to relax inerviewee
- interviewees should be reminded that responses are kept confidential
