self-report

self report

what is something that self report measures and no other method does ?

participant thoughts and feelings

what can be used for a self report study

questionaires

two types of questions on a self-report

closed and open questions

examples of types of closed questions

yes/no, ticklists, select the most applicable, rating scales

likert scale

when participants are given a statement and must express the extent to which they agree

semantic differential scale

respondents express their opinions by choosing the closeness of two antonyms

strength of closed questions

produces quantitative data that can be summarised, presented and compared between participants easily

weakness of closed questions

produces quantitative data, meaning that there is no detail, insight or reasoning behind answers given which limits the usefulness of the data

strengths of rating scales, likert scales and semantic differentials

provides more detail than simple yes/no answers, so the data is more useful

weakness of rating scales, likert scales and semantic differentials

subjective as people interpret ratings and terms differently, e.g. difference between strongly agree and agree

strengths of open questions

the researcher can collect qualitative data such as feelings and experiences which gives more insight than can be gotten from a close questionaire, more useful

weaknesses of open questions

information gained is qualitative data so it is difficult to analyse and make comparisins between participants, hard to draw conclusions

ethics of questionaires

anonymous, and therefore confidential, however a loss of the right to withdraw due to the anonymity. a full debrief, is necessary and possibly recomending services

reliability refers to what in a questionaire

the extent to which findings from research are consistent

what is internal reliability in a questionaire

is the questionaire consistent with itself

ways to test internal reliability in a questionaire

repeated questions, split-half method

external reliability in a questionaire

are the results consistent if the questionaire is repeated

ways of testing external reliability

test-re-test

validity in questionaires

the extent to which what the researcher intended to measure has been measured

how can questionaires be answered invalidly

if participants lie

how can data be invalid in questionaires

evaluation apprehension and social desireability

evaluation apprehension

participants concerns about being tests may affect results

social desirability

participants responding in a way that makes them appear a better person than they are

test-re-test

when participants complete the questionaire twice and the similarity of their answers is examined

repeated questions

questions asking the same thing but phrased slightly differently, if participants give vastly different impressions than their data is classed as unreliable.

split-half method

analysing if the first half of a participants questionaire is consistent with the second half.

strength of questionaires

quick to administer and analyse, so a large sample population can be achieved, and more valid results

weakness of questionaires

responses are often limited due to closed questions, so the results may not actually represent the respondents views. this could lead to invalid data that doesn’t represent the sample.

three types of interviews

structured, unstructured, semi-structured

structured interview

questions are predetermined that have been specially planned to gain insight into specific beliefs

strength of structured interviews

can be easily repeated due to the questions being the same, so reliability can be checked

weakness of structured interviews

the restricted questions may force an answer that may not be a true measure of attitudes, so validity may be affected

unstructured interview

the theme of the conversation is stated at the start, but the interviewer goes with the flow of the conversation that’s controlled by the participant

strength of unstructured interviews

interviewer can pick up on topic or detail that is important to the participant, gaining more insight into true thoughts and feelings

weakness of unstructured interviews

as a variety of questions are asked, it can be difficult to replicate and analysing the data is complex, making comparison difficult

semi-structured interviews

some questions are pre-determined, but the researcher can ask follow-up questions or clarification to gain further insight

strength of semi-structured interviews

interviewer can add to the pre-determined questions so more information and a better insight into true thoughts and feelings

weakness of semi-structured interviews

intervewere’s extra questions may make it difficult to analyse

overall strength of self report

only method that allows us to collect participants thoughts and feelings

overall weakness of self report

risk of social desirability as participants want to present themselves in the best light, so we can't be sure of their honesty, reducing the validity of results