Self-report

• Self report techniques are when the participant reveals personal information about themselves in response to a series of questions.
• Interviews are when participants give information in response to direct questioning from the researcher (this can be in person or over the phone).
• Questionnaires are a set of questions given to participants either online or via post. These usually consist of closed questions.
• Open questions are when the questions are phrased in a way that allows the participant to answer in any way they choose. This produces qualitative data.
• Strengths of open questions:

  • Participants have more freedom to choose their responses which can lead to more valid responses.
• Limitations of open questions:

  • Qualitative data makes data analysis between large numbers of responses more difficult (harder to spot patterns).
• Closed questions are questions phrased in a way that limits the participants responses to only a few fixed options. This produces quantitative data.
• Strengths of closed questions:

  • Quantitative data allows easy data analysis between large numbers of responses, making it easier to spot patterns.
• Limitations of closed questions:

  • Less valid as participants are limited to a fixed answer.