Self-report

Question 1

What are the 2 main self-report techniques?

Answer 1

Interviews and questionnaires

Question 2

What are open questions?

Answer 2

They ask a participant to respond to a set of questions but leave a blank underneath the question so participants can answer however they’d like. (Qualitative data)

Question 3

What are closed questions?

Answer 3

The answers are given to the participant and they have to choose the most appropriate answer for them. (Quantitative data)

Question 4

What’s an advantage of closed questions?

Answer 4

Easy to put data in a chart since it is quantitative data

Question 5

What’s a disadvantage of closed questions?

Answer 5

Can’t obtain details from the participant

Question 6

What’s an advantage of open questions?

Answer 6

You can obtain detailed qualitative data

Question 7

What’s a disadvantage of open questions?

Answer 7

• Hard to represent data
• Hard to analyse answers if the data set is large

Question 8

What is a rating scale?

Answer 8

Involved the participant making a mark at an appropriate point along a numerical dimension to indicate the direction and strength of their attitude.

E.g. How happy are you? (1 = extremely unhappy, 5 = extremely happy)

Question 9

What are advantages of rating scales?

Answer 9

Simple, easier to answer, easily applicable, quantitative data

Question 10

What are disadvantages of rating scales?

Answer 10

Can get boring for participant, not enough options so might not reflect their true thoughts, limited data

Question 11

What are Likert scales?

Answer 11

They comprise a number of statements, for each of which participant indicate whether they:

Strongly agree/Agree/Neutral/Disagree/Strongly Disagree

Question 12

What is a standard response set and how is it controlled for in a Likert scale?

Answer 12

Standard response set = the tendency to give the same answer to all statements.

Statements are selected so that for half of the statements “Agree” represents a positive attitude and for the other half it represents a negative.

Question 13

What’s an issue with Likert scales?

Answer 13

The number of intervals to include. Typically, it will contain 5 intervals or an odd number so that a neutral option is possible. With an even number of intervals, the participant is forced to either agree or disagree.

Question 14

What is a semantic differential?

Answer 14

Semantic differentials use of polar opposite terms. E.g. Good and bad; weak and strong.

Question 15

In what case will questionnaires often be chosen?

Answer 15

If a researcher wishes to gain quantitative data from a large sample of participants fairly quickly

Question 16

In what case will interviews be chosen?

Answer 16

If a researcher wishes to gain in-depth qualitative data from representatives of a fairly narrow target population.

Question 17

What is a structured interview?

Answer 17

The interviewer asks the same questions to each participant in the same order. Closed questions are often used, with the interviewee picking the answer that is closest to their own view.

Question 18

What are strengths of structured interviews?

Answer 18

• Easy to collect and analyse data
• Not time consuming
• Can’t go off topic
• Easy for interviewer
• Standardised

Question 20

What are weaknesses of structured interviews?

Answer 20

• Limits useful responses
• Some questions may not be relevant to the participant

Question 21

What is a semi-structured interview?

Answer 21

The interviewer will have a set of pre-prepared questions to ask and is expected to ask all of them; other questions will be developed during the interview in response to answers given by the interviewee

Question 22

What are strengths of semi-structured interviews?

Answer 22

• More detail
• Avoids unclear answers

Question 23

What are weaknesses of semi-structured interviews?

Answer 23

• Time consuming to analyse
• Researcher bias

Question 24

What is an unstructured interview?

Answer 24

The researcher has topics to discuss but these don’t have to be in the same order for each participant. The interview is more like a conversation, with further questions being developed in response to the interviewee’s answers.

Question 25

What are strengths of unstructured interviews?

Answer 25

- More personal - More detail - More information --> things interviewer didn't expect

Question 26

What are weaknesses of unstructured interviews?

Answer 26

- May drift off topic - Time consuming to analyse - Can't compare responses - Might get useless data --> reduces validity

Question 27

What are advantages of questionnaires?

Answer 27

- Usually done in silence/privately so participant feels more comfortable to tell the truth - No researcher bias

Question 28

What's a disadvantage of questionnaires?

Answer 28

Might miss information that could be useful

Question 29

What's an advantage of interviews?

Answer 29

Unstructured --> can ask to elaborate on unclear answers

Question 30

What's a disadvantage of interviews?

Answer 30

Participant may lie due to stress of face-to-face