self report - RM

• ·A questionnaire is both a data collection tool and a research method. They usually ask people to give responses about themselves and/or their ideas- this is self-report data.

   

  ·Questionnaires have to be designed carefully, they ask for personal data such as age, gender and background, and other questions relevant to the topic. Ethically, questionnaires must only ever ask what the researcher really needs to know. Items in the questionnaire can take different formats – closed questions, open questions or scales (eg Likert or attitude scales
• ·       Questionnaires can be used in a wide range of research situations.  They allow researchers to ask participants about, for example, their attitudes, behaviours or intentions. 

   

  ·       The researcher does not need to be present when the questionnaire is administered, although the researcher’s presence may be helpful to answer any queries that the respondent has.
• Questionnaire surveys can be conducted by post, telephone, via the internet, or left for participants to collect from some central point and complete in their own time.  Both quantitative and qualitative data may be produced.
• Closed ended questions in questionnaires provide limited response choices eg, yes/no answers. In other words, the researcher determines the range of possible answers. Respondents often reply by ticking boxes or circling appropriate answers. They often take the form of Likert scales. These questions are best used when straightforward factual information is required
• Open ended questions are those in which the researcher does not restrict the range of available answers.  So for example, a researcher might start an interview by asking ‘what are your views on the use of corporal punishment by parents?  Open ended questions produce a lot of detailed, verbal information (qualitative data) but at a cost, the answers are usually difficult to analyse.
• open questions -Provides rich details of a person’s thoughts as they are free to express themselves. Unrestricted by categories.

   
• open questions -       Difficult to draw conclusions as there are a wide range of answers from the respondents.

  -       Interpretation of answers requires subjective reasoning. The interpreted meaning may not be wholly accurate.
• closed questions -       Easy to analyse as the data is in numbers. Can be displayed with graphs and so findings are easier to compare and draw conclusions.

  -       Answers are objective and require no interpretation from researchers.
• closed questions -       May not permit people to express precise feelings as there are predetermined answers

  -       Ranked scale -  participants may respond in the same way to all questions, e.g. tendency to select high values or middle value. In order to avoid this response it is a good idea to switch the positive and negative sides of the scale.

  -       Oversimplifies human experiences with simple answers.