self-report techniques

• self-report techniques

  the participant reveals personal information about themselves(e.g. behaviours, emotions, beliefs, attitudes and memories) in response to a series of questions
• interview

  information is gained from an experimenter directly asking participants questions (generally on a one-to-one basis) and recording their responses. can also be conducted over the phone
• questionnaires

  a written self-report technique where participants are given a pre-set number of questions to respond to. They can be administered in person, by post, online, over the telephone, or to a group of participants simultaneously.
• what are the two types of questions asked in a questionnaire?

  Open-ended and closed-ended.
• open questions


  the question is phrased in a way that allows the participant to answer in any way they choose. This produces qualitative data
• closed questions


  the question is phrased in a way that limits participants' responses to only a few fixed options. e.g. do you like X, yes or no. this produces quantitative data
• open questions strengths


  as the participants have the freedom to choose their responses, this can be argued to lead to more valid responses
• open questions weaknesses


  qualitative data makes data analysis between large numbers of participant responses much more difficult, making it harder to spot patterns in responses
• closed questions strengths


  quantitative data allows easy data analysis between large numbers of participant responses, making it easier to spot patterns in the data set
• closed questions weaknesses


  the participant's responses are limited to a fixed set, this can be argued to be less valid as responses may just be the best fit, not how they really feel
• designing interviews and questionnaires


  how the researcher constructs the study
• avoiding complex terminology

  participants may not understand the terms used and if they feel too embarrassed to ask for the meaning, or unable to in a questionnaire they may guess the meaning resulting in inaccurate responses
• rewording questions

  using a skilled interviewer means questions that participants don't understand can be reworded, this should be in a way that doesn't change the question's meaning so responses can be compared to others
• leading questions

  Leading questions are questions that are worded to suggest a particular answer. For example, if you say 'did you see the broken glass? ' it implies that there was broken glass and therefore the witness is more likely to say 'yes'.
• how can leading questions be avoided?

  questions should be written in a way that doesn't suggest a correct way of responding. e.g. what did you prefer about condition A
• piloting questions

  running a small scale version of the interview or questionnaire can identify questions that are confusing, give away the aim or don't produced a useful/detailed response. These can then be changed before the larger-scale study
• filler questions

  questions that are not linked to the research aim, but can be added to interviews to put the participant at ease and build rapport for more challenging questions. They can also be added to interviews/questionnaires to act as red herrings and help to hide the research aim, reducing demand characteristics
• structured interview


  the interviewer reads out a list of prepared questions as they are written.
• structured interview strengths


  -the interviewer doesn't have to be highly trained to conduct the interview

  -a structured interview can be easily repeated because the questions are standardised, meaning answers from different people can be compared
• structured interview weaknesses


  • responses by the participants can't be followed up with additional questions that can give more detail
  • comparability may be a problem if the same interviewer behaves differently on different occasions(low reliability)
• unstructured interview


  no setlist of questions, an open conversation about a topic
• unstructured interview strengths


  • rapport can be built so the participant may feel more comfortable to answer questions
  • interesting responses can be followed up with additional questions
• unstructured interview weaknesses


  • a highly trained interviewer is required to think of appropriate questions in the moment
  • every interview will be very different, making comparisons difficult(low reliability)
• semi-structured


  combination of prepared questions with ability to ask additional questions
• semi-structured interview strengths


  • the interview responses are easy to compare because of the same questions asked
  • The interviewer can ask follow up questions for more detail
  • rapport is more likely so participant will feel more comfortable answering questions
• semi structured interview weaknesses


  a highly trained interview is needed to think up appropriate questions in the moment
• self-report techniques strengths


  • when the same set of questions are used, they are very easy to replicate.
  • the use of closed questions allows data analysis. open questions allow participants the chance to freely report their experience
• self report techniques weaknesses


  • suffer from bias for example social desirability bias
• questionnaires strengths


  • don't require a trained interviewer and can be distributed easily, making collecting a large amount of date a cheap and easy process
  • when using closed questions, many responses can be easily compared
• questionnaires weaknesses 


  • questions that participants don't understand cannot be rephrased
  • questionnaires are often not taken seriously, this can result in acquiescence bias
• how can acquiescence bias be tested


  by asking the same question again later in the questionnaire but in reverse
• interview strengths


  • can rephrase questions that are difficult to understand
  • can build rapport making it more likely the participant will answer truthfully
• interview weaknesses 


  • requires an interviewer- this slightly increases the cost per participant
  • interviewer effects, personal characteristics of the interviewer can alter the response of the participant