Research Methods - Self report

Question 1

Self Reports

Answer 1

Any method where the ppt reports their own thoughts and feelings about a particular matter to the psychologist.
Self-report could be a research method on it’s own or a method of collecting data to measure the DV.

Question 2

Open questions

Answer 2

• ppts give attitudes, opinions, recall experiences in their own words.
• No pre-set options to choose
• eg. How do you feel after that experience?

Question 3

Closed Questions

Answer 3

• Offers responses from which to choose.
• eg. what is your preferred treatment, therapy or medication?

Question 4

Rating Scales

Answer 4

These are different types of ‘closed questions’.
Likert scales - numerical rating from 1-5 (from slightly agree to strongly agree)
Rank Orders - e.g. from 1-10 (1 being not at all, 10 being absolutely)
Checklists - tick any items that apply to you!
Semantic Differential Scales - 2 extremes are given, responses fall between these values

Question 5

Filler questions

Answer 5

• Sometimes questionnaires have ‘filler questions’ among the real questions.
• Answers to filler questions are not analysed
• Serve to hide the real purpose of the study.
• In some studies you might not want the participants to know the true purpose of the questionnaire > lead to demand characteristics/social desirability bias.
• Filler question’s will make ppts less likely to guess the true aims of the study.

Question 6

Psychometric Tests

Answer 6

• These are specific types of questions that measure psychological characteristics, e.g. intelligence, pain, personality
• They will give ppts a single numerical score on the characteristic or on various dimensions of the characteristic, so they quantify a characteristic that would otherwise be difficult to measure.
• A personality test is an example.

Question 7

Key features of questionaires

Answer 7

• Gather data systematically, from large numbers of people
• Carried out on selected groups (samples), from which generalisation may be possible
• Standardised instructions

Two types of question:
**Open questions **- range of answers is not restricted by the researcher
Closed questions - possible answers are determined by the researcher – including rating scales

Question 8

Surveys

Answer 8

• Surveys are large scale questionnaires, which aims to gain insight into a particular attitude or behaviour across a group of people.
• will have a large sample, they are usually distributed and collected via post or online.
• the researcher has little control over the response rate.
• Certain types of people may be more likely to respond. This will usually be people who have more time or feel strongly about the issue.
• surveys may have a lot of closed questions, for ease of analysis, a response bias may occur. This is where the ppt answers in a pattern, without reading the questions properly, eg, answering ‘yes’ to everything

Question 9

Problem Questions

Answer 9

Example 1: Double barrelled question
Please indicate how much you agree or disagree with each of the following statements about our service:
‘I feel welcomed by staff and other youth at the centre.’
* Some people may not agree to everything in the statement.
Example 2: Leading question
Most people complain that there are not enough police out on the streets. Do you think there are too few police on the streets yes/no?
* Putting ideas into your head so that you are more likely to believe that’s the truth.

Question 10

Strengths of Questionnaires

Answer 10

**Strengths: **
* Convenient- researcher does not need to be present. eg. answers can be mailed
* Can collect large amounts of data
* Many people can be questioned quickly
* Easy to analyse numerical data
* Can show changes in attitudes or behaviour before or after specific events

Question 11

Weaknesses of questionnaires

Answer 11

• If researcher is present-may affect answers
• People may not tell the truth, especially on sensitive issues. (they will give a socially desirable response).
• Difficult to phrase questions clearly
• You may obtain different interpretations
• Leading questions > distort answers
• Postal or online surveys may have low response rate

Question 12

Structured Interviews

Answer 12

• Has pre-determined questions
• essentially a questionnaire
• face to face, on camera or over the telephone.
• There is no deviation from the original questions.
  **Strengths: **
• interviewer can explain questions if the participant does not understand > increases the validity.
• questions are standardised > increasing the reliability
• researcher can compare answers establishing trends
  **Weaknesses: **
• Comparability difficult if interviewer behaves differently
• Researcher/interviewer effects – where the behaviour of the interviewer affects the ppts response.
• Interviews data needs to be analysed. Analysis could be influenced by the researcher (researcher/interviewer bias)

Question 13

Semi-Structured Interview

Answer 13

• some pre-set questions are written
• opportunity for the researcher to ask further questions.

Question 14

Unstructured Interview

Answer 14

• New questions are developed/added during the interview.
• The interviewer may begin with general aims and possibly a few pre-determined questions
• subsequent questions develop based on the answers that are given.
  **Strengths: **
• researcher can explain questions if the ppt does not understand - data may be more valid.
• data can be more detailed/specific adding more insight.
  **Weaknesses: **
• require interviewers with more skill > more expensive, need for trained interviewer
• Questions may lack comparability
• Researcher bias is more likely to occur

Question 15

Interviews - Practical & Methodological issues

Answer 15

Recording the interview – The interviewer may make notes> may interfere with their listening skills.
The effect of the interviewer – The presence of an interviewer may increase
the amount of information provided, even in an unstructured interview.
Non-verbal communication –
Discouraging or encouraging body language can affect the ppt’s responses ‘researcher effects’
Listening skills – Do not interrupt too much and when they do speak.
* Avoid repeating Questions
* Avoid probing too much
* Avoid asking why to often
* Ask more focused questions

Question 16

Types of data - Quantitative

Answer 16

• Numerical data
• Measuring something in someway
• Analysed to show patterns and relationships
• eg. ‘how many’ or ‘how often’

Question 17

Evaluation of Quantitative data

Answer 17

**Strengths: **
* Numerical data is often very reliable
* Data can be analysed using statistical measure so it easy to compare and establish trends.
**Weaknesses: **
* Data collection method often limits responses, so the data is less valid, e.g. if the participant wants to give a response that isn’t available. It gives less insight into behaviour.

Question 18

Types of data - Qualitative

Answer 18

• More in depth
• includes detailed data
• ppts can express themselves fully
• Open questions produce qualitative data

Question 19

Evaluation of qualitative data

Answer 19

**Strengths: **
* Data is often valid as ppts can express themselves rather than being limited by fixed choices, providing more insight into behaviour
**Weaknesses: **
* Data collection is often subjective so findings may not be valid as data recording or interpretation may be biased by the researcher’s opinions and feelings
* Detailed data on one or a few individuals may not generalise to the majority

Question 20

Objective data

Answer 20

• factual data
  eg. An experiment in which researchers record participants’ reaction times when presented with different types of stimulus.

Question 21

Subjective data

Answer 21

• Data that is opinion
  eg. An observation study where the psychologist watches football fans and rates them on a scale of 1-10 on how enthusiastic they are.