Questionnaires

• self-report


  any method in which a person is asked about their feelings/opinions/behaviours
• two self-report techniques


  -questionnaire

  -interview
• questionnaires


  written questions to assess a person's thoughts/experiences
• open questions


  no fixed range of responses- ppts. can give any answer
• open questions advantage


  can give lots of detail (qualitative data)
• open questions disadvantage


  difficult to analyse and quantify
• closed questions


  a fixed number of responses available
• closed questions advantage


  easy to analyse (quantitative data)
• closed questions disadvantage


  lack of detail
• three types of closed questions


  -likert scale- uses a 5-point scale from strongly agree to strongly disagree

  -rating scale- ppts. give a value to represent the strength of their feeling on a topic

  -fixed choice option- a list of possible options are given for ppts. to choose from
• two guiding principles


  -clarity

  -bias
• clarity


  -jargen- do not overuse as respondents will not understand the question

  -double-barelled questions- containing two questions in one- respondent may agree with first part but not second part

  -double negatives- use simple phrasing
• bias


  emotive language- make sure your attitudes are not coming across in the way the question is phrased

  -leading questions- make sure the questions do not guide the respondent towards a particular answer through the wording of the questions
• questionnaires advantages

  -cost effective- can gather large amounts ppt data quickly as can distribute to larger numbers of people

  -respondents more willing to give personal information in a questionnaire than in an interview where they may feel self-conscious
• questionnaires disadvantages


  -social desirability bias- answers may not be truthful

  -acquiescence bias- type of response bias where respondents tent to reply in a similar way