Unit 2 - Methodologies (interviews and questionnaires)

What is a ‘structured interview’?

A research method that includes standardised questions (like in a questionnaire), which are known as an interview schedule, and are usually asked face-to-face. The interviewer has a pre-prepared set of questions that are asked in a fixed order, and the pre-determined questions used elicit a verbal response.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of ‘structured interviews’?

Strengths of structured interviews are that the same questions are used each time making answers easy to analyse and they are replicable so more reliable because the same questions can be asked in the same way.

Weaknesses are that they can be restrictive because there is no chance to ask further questions and they don’t allow for spontaneous questions which may mean the interviewer is less responsive to the participant.

What is a ‘questionnaire’?

A research method that includes a list of written questions which generate closed and/or open answers. These can be in person, online or through other methods. Questionnaires can produce quantitative or qualitative data or a mixture of both.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a ‘questionnaire’?

Strengths of questionnaires are that they can be used to assess psychological variables that may not be obvious when observing someone and data can be collected from a large sample more quickly than interviews.

Weaknesses are that there is no guarantee that the participant is telling the truth and different participants may interpret the same question in different ways.

What is a ‘semi-structured interview’?

A research method which involves asking participants questions, usually face-to-face. These can be in the form of an interview schedule; however, they could also include follow up questions to expand on answers to the questions. This is sometimes called a clinical interview because it can be likened to the kind of interview you might have with a doctor; they start with predetermined questions, but further questions are developed as a response to your answers.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of ‘semi-structured interviews’?

Strengths of semi-structured interviews are that more qualitative information can be gathered by the interviewer because they tailor the questions based on respondent’s response and there is high validity because participants have the opportunity to fully express their true feelings/views.

Weaknesses are that the same questions are not used every time, making it difficult to analyse results and to identify patterns and trends, meaning they are not replicable and have low reliability.

What is a ‘self-report’?

Is a method which involves a participant reporting on their own thoughts and feelings through methods such as interviews, questionnaires, inventory and diaries.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a ‘self-report’?

Strengths of self-report are that they offer insight into why people behave as they do, so there is less reason for researchers to guess the reasons for behaviour and qualitative information can be gathered.

Weaknesses are that there is the possible risk of social desirability bias and people may not be able to recall accurately, especially if the self-report method asks for details over an extended period of time.

What is an ‘open question’?

Questions that allow participants to freely offer their opinion. They are more likely to produce qualitative data which is in depth but difficult to analyse.

What is a ‘closed question’?

Questions where the respondent has a limited response and is more likely to produce quantitative data which is easy to analyse but shallow.

What is a ‘case study’?

A method which involves an in-depth investigation of a phenomenon, which uses a descriptive analysis of a person, group or event. It is a holistic study through one or more methodologies that is usually longitudinal. They use many different research methods, such as interview, questionnaire, or observation in order to achieve the required depth. Most data collected is qualitative, but it can sometimes be quantitative.

What are the strengths and weaknesses of a ‘case study’?

Strengths of case studies are that they produce rich qualitative data which has high ecological validity because it is a study of real-life situation, and they allow researchers to study cases they couldn’t practically or ethically manipulate in an experiment.

Weaknesses are that there is researcher bias where researchers become too involved and lose their objectivity, so they may interpret data to ‘fit in’ with their own theories and they are difficult to generalise findings beyond the individual/group studied as the sample is too small (low population validity).