Self-Report

• Questionaires


  A type of self report technique, where participants provide information relating to their thoughts, feelings and behaviours.
• Open Questions 


  Allows participants to answer however they want, generating qualitative data since there is no fixed number of responses to select from.
• Closed Questions


  Restricts the participant to a predetermined set of responses and therefore generates quantitative data.
• Open Question Strengths

  Less chance of researcher bias, and detailed answers obtained
• Limitations of Open questions 


  Participants may answer in a socially desirable way making the answers less valid
• Closed question strengths 


  Easy to analyse quantitative data, discover trends and replicate research
• Limitations of closed questions 


  Predetermined list of questions limits responses ability to explore interesting answers. Response bias
• Interviews


  Predominantly take place on a face to face basis although they can happen over telephone too
• The three different types of interview

  • structured
  • unstructured
  • semi-structured
• Structured Interviews 


  The questions are decided on in advance and they are asked in the exactly the same manner and order for each interview.
• Unstructured Interviews 


  Conducted more like a conversation , with the interviewer only facilitating the discussion rather than asking set questions. Very little is decided in advance. Therefore this method of interview produces a large amount of qualitative data .
• Semi-structured interviews 


  Comprimises of prepared questions that can be supplemented with additional questions as seen fit by the interviewer.
• Strengths of structured interviews

  easier to analyse quantitative data; discover trends; replicability
• Strengths of unstructured interviews

  less chance of demand characteristics and investigation effects
• Strength of semi structured interviews


  rich and interesting g qualitative data; less chance of social desirability bias
• Limitations of structured interviews

  increased risk of investigator effects
• limitations of unstructured limitations 


  difficult to analyse qualitative data; time consuming and expensive
• Limitations of semi structured interviews

  higher chance of demand characteristics in comparison to unstructured interviews