Self-report techniques and Design

• What are self report techniques?

  Participants giving answers to questions regarding their beliefs, ideas, behaviours and experiences relating to a particular topic
• Two methods of self-reporting

  • questionnaire
  • interview
• Questionaire


  • set of predetermined questions used to collect data
  • overcomes the assumptive/guessing nature of observation
• Strengths of questionaires


  • largely distributed
  • anonymity= more personal info
  • can answer without a researcher present
• Weaknesses of questionnaires

  • social desirability bias
  • acquiescence bias
• Questionnaire design


  • need to be relatively simple to allow analysis
  • open and closed qs can be used
• open questions have no fixed choice of response
• closed questions


  fixed choice of response
• Likert Scale


  indicates a respondent's agreement to a statement using a scale of 5 points

  
• Rating scale


  works by getting respondents to identify a value that represents their strength of feeling about a particular topic

  
• Fixed choice option


  includes a list of possible options, respondents select the ones that apply to them

  
• Interviews


  self report technique, data is collected via a real time interaction
• Types of interviews

  structured, semi-structured, unstructured
• structured interviews


  consists of pre-determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order
• Strengths of structured interviews

  • easy to replicate
  • answers can be compared
• Weaknesses of structured interviews

  • not possible for interviewers to deviate and ask for elaboration
  • less detail obtained
• unstructured interview


  no fixed set of questions

  interviewee is encouraged to expand and elaborate on their own answers
• strengths of unstructured interview

  • more flexibility
• weaknesses of unstructured interview


  • analysis of data is not straight forward
  • requires skilled interviewers
• Semi-structured interview


  • list of pre-determined questions
  • interviewer is free to ask follow up qs
• interview design

  • interview schedule
  • standardised qs
  • take notes/ record for analysis
  • interviewer and single participant
  • quiet room
  • individual, neutral qs
  • remind of ethical issues
• writing good questions

  • avoid jargon
  • avoid emotive language/ leading questions
  • avoid double-barrelled qs and double negatives