Self-report techniques

• what are the two main self-report techniques?

  interviews and questionnaires.
• questionnaires

  made up of a pre-set list of written questions (or items) to which a participant responds.

  they can be used as part of an experiment to assess the DV.
• strengths of questionnaires

  • can be distributed to lots of people. can gather large amounts of data quickly and the researcher need not be present when completed. reduces the effort involved and makes questionnaires cost-effective.
  • respondents may be willing to 'open up'. respondents may share more personal information than in an interview as they are less self-conscious. there may be less chance of social desirability bias compared to an interview.
• limitations of questionnaires

  • responses may not always be truthful. respondents tend to present themselves in a positive light. thus social desirability bias is still possible.
  • response bias. respondent may favour a particular kind of response, e.g. they always agree. this means that all respondents tend to reply in a similar way.
• what are interviews

  face-to-face interaction between an interviewer and interviewee.
• what are the three types of interviews?

  structured, unstructured and semi-structured interviews.
• structured interview

  list of pre-determined questions asked in a fixed order.
• strength of structured interviews

  easy to replicate. straightforward to replicate because of standardised format. the format also reduces differences between interviewers.
• limitation of structured interviews

  interviewers cannot elaborate. interviewers cannot deviate from the topic or elaborate their points. this may be a source of frustration for some.
• unstructured interview

  there are no set questions. there is a general topic to be discussed but the interaction is free-flowing and the interviewee is encouraged to elaborate.
• strength of unstructured interviews

  there is greater flexibility. unlike a structured interview, points can be followed up as they arise. more likely to gain insight into interviewee's worldview.
• limitation of unstructured interviews

  difficult to replicate. such interviews lack structure and are not standardised. greater risk of interviewer bias.
• semi-structured interview

  list of questions that have been worked out in advance but interviewers are free to ask follow-up questions when appropriate.
• how to write good questions for questionnaires

  • avoid jargon, e.g. do you agree that maternal deprivation in infant hood inevitably leads to affection less psychopathy.
  • avoid double-barrelled questions, e.g. do you agree that footballers are overpaid and should give 20% of their wages to charity?
  • avoid leading questions, e.g. do you agree that boxing is barbaric?
• what are the two types of questions in questionnaires?

  open and closed questions
• closed questions

  respondent has limited choices.

  data produced tends to be quantitative, e.g. how many cigarettes do you smoke a day? 0-10, 11-20 etc. but can produce qualitative data, e.g. do you smoke? yes/no.
• strength of closed questions

  easier to analyse. can produce graph and charts for comparison. makes it easier to draw conclusions.
• limitation of closed questions

  respondents are restricted. forced into an answer that may not be representative of true feelings. may reduce the validity of the findings.
• open questions

  respondents provide their own answers expressed in words

  data produced tend to be qualitative, e.g. why did you start smoking? produces a range of personal answers.
• strength of open questions

  respondents are not restricted. answers ore likely to provide detailed, unpredictable information. likely to have more validity than statistics.
• limitation of open questions

  difficult to analyse. wider variety of answers than produced by closed questions. may be forced to reduce data to statistics.
• what are the four main points of the design of interviews?

  interview schedule, quiet room, rapport and ethics.
• interview schedule

  a standardised list of questions that the interviewer needs to cover- can reduce interviewer bias.
• quiet room

  will increase the likelihood that the interviewee will open up.
• rapport

  being with neutral questions to make participants feel relaxed.
• ethics

  remind interviewees that answers will be treated in confidence.
• what is a pilot study?

  a small-scale trial run of a research design before doing the real thing.
• what is the aim of pilot studies?

  to find out if certain things don't work so you can correct them before spending time and money on the real thing.