Self-Report

Cards (14)

  • Self-report
    self-report is where the participant provides details of their own feelings or thoughts
    this could include;
    • answering interview questions, which could be structured or unstructured
    • answering questions from a questionnaire, which could be open or closed
  • Data
    the information collected in a study is called data
    there are 2 different types of data;
    • quantitative (numerical data that can be displayed in a graph)
    • qualitative (non-numerical, detailed data that can be displayed with content analysis)
  • Quantitative data
    Features of quantitative data include;
    • numerical
    • can be statistically analysed, using descriptive and/or inferential statistics (statistics can be compared)
    • often collected in experiments
  • Qualitative data
    Features of qualitative data include;
    • non-numerical data (language)
    • analysed using qualitative analysis, such as content analysis
    • often collected in self-report methods
  • Evaluation of quantitative data
    S - quantitative data is easy to analyse and compare
    W - quantitative data lacks rich detail
  • Evaluation of qualitative data
    S - qualitative data is rich in detail
    W - qualitative data is difficult to analyse and compare
  • Questionnaires
    questionnaires are known as self-report techniques: they involve asking a number of people about a specific topic to investigate their views, opinions and attitudes. The researcher tries to select a large and representative sample
    when designing a questionnaire the researcher needs to:
    • use a combination of open and closed questions
    • allow for a 'don't know' answer where appropriate
    • pilot it first so changes can be made if needed
  • Open questions
    open questions allow respondents to write their own answers
    this would provide you with rich, detailed qualitative data
  • Closed questions
    closed questions give participants a limited number of fixed responses to choose from. These are predetermined by the researcher
    this would provide you with quantitative data (how many people ticked yes and no)
  • Evaluation of questionnaires
    S - easy to produce, analyse and compare
    W - lack detail
    W - social desirability bias
  • Interviews
    features of an interview;
    • interviews are useful for gathering more detailed information and enabling a more natural and flexible approach to questioning. The interviewer usually has certain topics that they want to explore
    • interviews can be structured or unstructured
    • an interviewer can ask open and/or closed questions
  • Structured interviews
    in a structured interview, the interviewer will mostly ask questions that have been prewritten however the interviewer may sometimes add follow-on questions to clarify a response. The questions can be closed or open
  • Unstructured interviews
    in an unstructured interview, the interviewer will have few predetermined questions; rather they will have several topics they want to explore. This is more like a conversation. The questions tend to be open
  • Evaluation of interviews
    S - allows researchers to collect rich detail
    W - time consuming to conduct
    W - time consuming to analyse