Control in Self-Report Techniques: Improving Reliability and Validity

Explain how to improve reliability in questionnaires

: A questionnaire with low test-retest reliability may require that some of the

items to be removed or rewritten so participants have a consistent understanding.

Explain how to improve reliability in interviews

: If possible, use the same interviewer each time. If this is not possible, all

interviewers must be similarly trained in order record interviewee responses in a consistent

manner. Structured interviews are more likely to be reliable due to having control over the

fixed questions compared to the free-flowing nature of unstructured interviews

Explain how to improve internal validity of self-repot techniques

If a pilot study reveals participants have misunderstood a question, the

items can be revised, replaced or omitted. A lie scale involves including certain questions to

assess if a participant is being truthful. If they aren’t, their responses can be omitted. Assuring

respondents that data will be anonymous may encourage them to be more honest.

Explain how to improve external validity of Self-Report techniques

Population validity may be low if a certain type of person provides

responses. This can be improved by using a more randomised sample method to obtain a

more varied sample. Temporal validity may be low if questions being asked are specific to an

earlier time period. Such questions will need updating to ensure they are understood by

participants in a later era.