self-report techniques

• Three types of self-report techniques

  Questionnaires, structured interviews, and unstructured interviews
• Questionnaire

  Data collected through the use of written questions which are structured and pre-determined
• Structured interview

  A face-to-face, 'real-time' interaction with another individual involving pre-determined questions
• Unstructured interview

  A face-to-face, 'real-time' interaction with another individual where questions develop naturally during the course of the interview
• Structured vs. Unstructured Interviews

  Structured: every ppt is asked the same pre-determined questions

  
  

  Unstructured: questions develop naturally over the course of the interview
• Evaluation of questionnaires

  Strengths:

  - Can be distributed to a large sample relatively easily

  - Ppts might be more willing to give personal information

  - Investigator bias isn't an issue

  Limitations:

  - Ppt sample is biased (only answered by people who have the extra time to fill them in)
• Evaluation of structured interviews

  Strengths:

  - Same questions for all ppts meaning data (answers) can be compared directly

  Limitations:

  - Interviewer bias might affect the ppts answers
• Evaluation of structured interviews

  Strengths:

  - More detailed answers from each ppt (questions are tailored to each person)

  Limitations:

  - Less objectivity (interviewer bias)

  - Less easy to compare the data (answers) of ppts
• Evaluation of self-report techniques in general

  Strengths:

  - Ppts can share their feelings/thought processes authentically (more likely to be true)

  Limitations:

  - Answers might be false (social desirability bias)

  - People might not know how or why they feel something

  - Sample bias (limited to people who have time to do a questionnaire or interview)