self report design

• questionnaire construction is where writing good questions and writing good questionnaires comes into place
• social desirability bias is where participants give answers that make them look more attractive or nice and more generous
• writing good questions - there are 3 key principles that researchers need to ensure are addressed:

  1. clarity
  2. bias
  3. analysis
• writing good questions - clarity

  • questions need to be written so reader understands what is being asked
  • should be no ambiguity (something has two possible meanings)
  • further issue that needs to be controlled is double barrelled questions
• writing good questions - bias

  • any bias may lead respondent to be more likely to give particular answer (leading questions)
  • social desirability bias - any bias will lead to reduction in validity
• writing good questions - analysis

  • question needs to be written so answers are easy to analyse - type of question can affect this
  • open questions - have no set response and give greater detail and new insights - produce qualitative data which is harder to analyse
  • closed questions - set range of possible answers - can be easier to analyse and produce quantitative data but not truly reflecting thoughts of those questioned.
• in order to write good questionnaires the following should be considered:

  • filler questions
  • sequence for the questions
  • sampling technique
  • pilot study
• filler questions are irrelevant questions which help to distract participants from main purpose of study ruding demand characterstics
• sequence for questions - best to start questions and save those that could make participants anxious/defensive until they have relaxed
• sampling technique is the means of how participants are selected

  • questionnaires should often use stratified sampling
• pilot studies are smaller trails of research meaning questionnaire can be refined based on any difficulties encountered before main study takes place
• designing the interview includes:

  • recording the interview
  • effect of the interviewer
  • questioning skills in unstructured interview
• whilst recording the interview, interviewer may take notes throughout to document - may interfere with listening

  • may make respondent feel sense of evaluation because interviewer may not write everything down so they may not feel valuable
  • instead may use audio or video recorder
• whilst designing the interview, take into consideration the effect of the interviewer

  • presence of interviewer who is interested to answers may increase amount of info provided - interviewer needs to be aware of behaviours:
  • non verbal communication - head nodding and leaning forward conveys interest encouraging participant to speak
  • listening skills - understanding how and when to speak and ensuring they dont stop/interrupt and use encouraging comments to show listening.
• questioning skills in an unstructured interview

  • important to be aware of questions already asked and avoid repeating them
  • avoid probing too much and asking 'why' too often
  • better to ask more focused questions - for interviewer and analysis of answers