Non-Experiemental

• Survey methods


  A method used for collecting information from a large group of people by asking questions, either in an interview or questionnaire
• Questionnaire


  • Example of a survey method used to collect large amounts of information from a group of people who are often spread out across the country
  • Researcher must design a set of questions that the people who take part in the survey will answer
  • Participants in surveys are often called respondents because their behaviour is a response to a question
  • All the respondents will answer all the questions and the researcher must try to make sure that the answers given provide information that is needed for the investigation
• Closed questions


  • Questions where the range of possible answers is determined by the researcher
  • Respondents are required to tick a box or underline/circle the answer that fits their response
• Closed questions


  • Provide the researcher with data that is easy to collate or put together
  • Researcher can work out quite quickly the percentages of people who responded "Yes/No or Never/Sometimes/Often"
  • A bar chart can display the responses
• There is little detail in the answers given with closed questions
• Because the respondents do not have the opportunity to explain their answers, the researcher does not know why they chose that particular response
• Open questions


  Questions where the respondent can write an individual answer and they are given space to do so
• Open questions


  • The answers generally provide lots of detail
  • Respondents are able to explain their answers
  • Respondents feel less frustrated than when they have to choose an answer from restricted options
• Open questions


  Provide the researcher with lots of information about behaviour, often with explanations for why a person has produced a particular behaviour
• Problems with open questions

  • It is very hard to collate, or group together, all the individual responses into an overall pattern because each response is different
• Strengths of questionnaires


  • A great deal of data can be collected quickly
• Strengths and weaknesses of closed and open questions


  • Closed questions are easy to score
  • Open questions provide detailed information
  • Open questions allow people to explain their answers
• Questionnaires are ethical because people are fully aware that they are filling in the questionnaire and they know what the questions are asking
• Questionnaires provide the answers respondents want to give and there is no way of checking that the answers are actually true
• The results of the questionnaire could be misleading for the researcher when closed questions are used, as the researcher does not know why a particular answer was chosen
• Interview


  A method in which a researcher collects data by asking questions directly
• Structured interview


  • All the questions are pre-set, given in a fixed order, and every interviewee is asked the same questions
• Unstructured interview


  • Only the first question is set and all other questions are determined by the answers of the interviewee
• Strengths of interviews


  • Produce large amounts of data
  • Provide information about people's thoughts and feelings that cannot be found by just watching behaviour
• Weaknesses of interviews


  • Researcher cannot be sure the interviewee is telling the truth, so the data may not be accurate
  • Structured interviews lack detail and may be frustrating for the interviewer and interviewee
  • Data from unstructured interviews may be difficult to collate and analyse
• Structured interview data


  Can be collated and analysed easily
• Unstructured interview data


  Detailed and have ecological validity