Self-report techniques

• Questionnaire: Pre-set list of written questions to which participants responds.

  
  

  +)Can be distributed to lots of people allowing for large amounts of data to be quickly collected. And researchers don't need to be present when its completed.

  
  

  -)May suffer from social desirability bias as responders tend to paint themselves in a more positive light.
• Interviews: Face-to-face interaction.

  Structured interview: List of pre-determined questions asked in a fixed order.

  
  

  +)Easy to replicated because of standardised format.

  
  

  -)Doesn't allow participants to elaborate on their answers which limits the richness of data collected.
• Unstructured interview: No set questions but there is still a general topic that it being discussed and participants re encouraged to elaborate.

  
  

  +)Allows participants to elaborate letting the researcher gain more insight.

  
  

  -)Increased risk of interviewer bias.
• Closed questions: Limited choices

  
  

  +)Easier to analyse -> Produce graphs, charts

  -)Responses are restricted, may not represent true feelings.

  
  

  Open questions: Answers provided in participants own words.

  
  

  +)Responses are more detailed.

  -)Difficult to analyse because wider variety of answers.