Self Report Methods

What is a Self-Report Method

• a method of gathering data

• participants provide information about themselves

• without interference from experimenter

• answering pre-set questions

Examples of Self-Report Methods

• survey

• diary

• questionnaires

• interviews

Strengths of Self-Report Methods

• participants are asked about their feelings - more useful than observing behaviour alone

• hypothetical scenarios without having to physically set them up - less time and expense

Weaknesses of Self-Report Methods

• only useful if participants are willing to disclose their feelings/thoughts

• participants may give ‘correct’ answers they believe researchers are looking for or visa versa

• participants may try to be socially acceptable (social desirability bias) leading to untruthful answers

What is a Questionnaire

• type of self-report

• involves participants answering range of questions

• designed to collect thoughts, feelings and opinions

Why might a Questionnaire be used

• to understand how people feel about issues

• e.g. immigration, social media

• measure psychometric properties

• e.g. IQ, depression, decision-making

• conduct large-scale survey to assess extent

• e.g. likely to vote, use green energy

What are the types of questions possible in a Questionnaire

• closed

• e.g. are you happy (yes/no)

• open

• e.g. what would you change about your life to increase overall happiness

• mixed combination

• e.g. are you happy? yes or no? explain why you answered yes or no

Strengths of Questionnaires

• cost effective and efficient - easy to administer to large samples

• standardised and reliable - total group answers same questions

Weaknesses of Questionnaires

• lacks depth and flexibility - no way to probe further or clarify misunderstandings

• only word responses - behaviour is ignored

• social desirability bias

• answers show what, not why behaviour occurs

Closed Questions

• limited options for participant’s response

• e.g. yes/no

• e.g. shy, sociable, reclusive, hostile (abcd)

• quantitative data

• total score calculated from the scaled questions

Open Questions

• freedom of response

• e.g. tell me about a time you felt anxious

• qualitative data

• e.g. transcript of an interview

• themes which emerged during conversing

• thoughts, ideas, feelings cannot be simplified into neat numerical data

• only relate to that individual

Analysis strength of Closed Questions

• provide quantitative data

• easy to analyse

• presented graphically and analysed statistically

• reliability is high, particularly with large sample

Detail criticism of Closed Questions

• quantitative data sacrifices levels of detail and insight

• needed to understand reasons and explanations

• lacks validity

Explanatory strength of Open Questions

• participants expand on answers they give

• allows participants and researchers to clarify, explain and qualify comments

• good explanatory power

• and external validity

Reliability criticism of Open Questions

• difficult to analyse

• due to subjective nature

• researcher must interpret meaning and intention

• could rise lack of consistency and objectivity

• lacks reliability

Strengths of Interviews

• flexibility and clarification - interviewer can probe for more detail

• qualitative data - in-depth with personal perspectives

Weaknesses of Interviews

• time and cost - requires scheduling and travel

• interviewer bias - influencing answers through personality, mannerisms or leading questions

Structured Interviews

• pre-determined set of questions

• asked in a fixed order

• standardised format for each participant

• face-to-face

Unstructured Interviews

• free-flowing conversation

• aims for a topic to be discussed

• new questions developing

Strengths of Structured Interviews

• consistent - uniform data removes interviewer bias improving validity

• efficient - faster to process larger volumes of data so easy to replicate

Weaknesses of Structured Interviews

• rigid - cannot handle unexpected info/trust

• lacks depth - misses context/detail as it restricts responses

Strengths of Unstructured Interviews

• flexibility - rich depth with insights on topic

• adaptable - process can evolve for individuals to develop trust

Weaknesses of Unstructured Interviews

• inconsistent - higher risk of interviewer bias/data collection inconsistency

• replication issues - difficult to analyse with time dedication

What does a Researcher consider when designing a Questionnaire

• aim

• length

• question construction

What is the Aim

• questionnaires purpose

• how it will aid research process

What is the Length

• questionnaire cannot be too short

• result in lack of data

• cannot be too long

• participants become bored

• may answer without. care of full attention

What is Question Construction

• clear, concise, unambiguous

• closed, open or combination questions

What type of question allows expression of Degree of Agreement

likert scale or rating scale

How are good questions written

• clear

• unambiguous

• on-topic

Double-barrelled Questions

• avoid as participant is left not knowing which part of question to answer

• e.g. to what extent do u agree,,, and should be banned from tv

• instead split it in half

• e.g. to what extent do u agree,,,

• e.g. should ,,, be banned from tv

Double Negatives

• not be used

• may confuse participants

• e.g. when you didnt not like,,,

• instead

• e.g. when you felt differently about