Self-report design

• A well-designed questionnaire or interview should use clear, unbiased, and relevant questions. Poorly worded questions can lead to misunderstandings and biased responses.
• Common issues in question design:

  • overuse of jargon
  • emotive language
  • leading questions
  • double-barreled questions
  • double negatives
• A leading question is a question that suggests a particular answer.
• Double-barreled questions ask two things at once. The issue is that the respondent may agree with one half of the question and disagree with the other.

  • Example: "Do you enjoy studying psychology and find it useful?" (A person may enjoy it but not find it useful)
• Jargon is the use of technical terms that are only familiar to those within a specialised field or area, so participants may not understand.
• Emotive language is language that is designed to evoke a particular emotion in the reader. This makes the author's attitude towards a particular topic clear, influencing the respondent's answer.
• Double negatives are negative statements containing two negative elements.

  • For example: "I am not unhappy in my job" (agree/disagree)
• Open questions are questions for which there is no fixed choice of response and respondents can answer in any way they wish.
• Closed questions are questions in which there is a fixed choice of responses determined ​by the researcher.

  The different types include:

  • Likert scales
  • Rating scales
  • Fixed choice options
• Likert scales measure agreement or disagreement with a statement. The scale usually has five points, ranging from strongly agree to strongly disagree.

  • Example: "I enjoy studying psychology." (Strongly Agree – Agree – Neutral – Disagree – Strongly Disagree)
  • ✅ Allows refined responses.
  • ❌ Subjective interpretation of scale points.
• Rating scales get participants to rate their feelings about a particular topic on a scale of 1-10.

  • Example: "How stressed do you feel before an exam? (1 = Not stressed, 10 = Extremely stressed)"
  • ✅ Easy to analyse and compare.
  • ❌ Different people may interpret the scale differently.
• A fixed choice option item includes a list of possible options and respondents are required to indicate those that apply to them.

  • Example: "Which of the following best describes your study habits?" (I study every day, I study once or twice a week, I only study before exams, I rarely study)
  • ✅ Easy to analyse
  • ❌ Limited response options