Research methods - self report techniques

Weaknesses of closed questions

Lack of insight

May not get a full opinion

Less freedom for participants

Strengths of closed questions

Easier to analyse statistically

Weaknesses of open questions

Time consuming to analyse - harder to sort out

Strengths of open questions 

Rich qualitative data 

More insight 

More freedom for participants to answer 

Weaknesses of structured interviews 

Less insight 

Less freedom for participants 

Benefits of structured interviews 

Standardised questions - easy to compare 

Increased reliability 

Weaknesses of interviews 

Time consuming 

Interviewer bias 

Strengths of interviews

More insight 

Qualitative data

Weaknesses of questionnaires 

Social desirability bias 

Misunderstanding questions 

Strengths of questionnaires 

Collecting data from a large sample

Cost effective and quick 

Social desirability bias

Tendency to give socially acceptable answers 

Interviewer bias 

The effect of the interviewer’s expectation on the response of the interviewee 

Pitfalls of self-report

Interviewer bias

Social desirability bias

Closed question

A question requiring a participant to respond in a certain way

Open question

A question that is answered freely without restriction

What are the two different type of question types?

Open

Closed

Unstructured questions 

Questions and order vary 

An open choice of how to answer each question 

Semi-structured questions

Some questions are planned for but participants can elaborate

Structured questions

All participants are asked the same questions in the same order and are given a range of answers to choose

What are the three different ways questions can be structured?

Structured

Semi-structured

Unstructured 

Interview

A verbal research method where the participant answers a series of questions

Questionnaire 

A written research method where the participant answers a series of questions 

What are the two main types of self report techniques?

Questionnaire

Interview

What are self report techniques?

Participants provide their own account of themselves usually through an interview,survey or questionnaire