Self Report Techniques

Page 1

Questionnaires:

A questionnaire is a set of written questions used to assess a persons thoughts and/or experiences. Psychologists use questionnaires to assess thoughts and/or feelings. A questionnaire may be used as part of an experiment to assess the dependent variable. e.g. whether the views on the legislation of specific recreational drugs are different in older and younger people.

Cost effective

Can gather large amounts of data quickly

Can be completed without the researcher being present

Data easy to analyse especially if closed questions are used

Responses may not be truthful - social desirability bias - where respondents answer in a way that makes them look good

Response bias where respondents reply in a similar way e.g. always ticking yes

Open and Closed Questions:

Open questions are questions that do not have a fixed range of answers and respondents can answer however they like. Open questions produce qualitative data that is detailed but may be difficult to analyse.

Closed questions have a fixed number of responses that a respondent can choose from. Closed questions can produce numerical data by limiting the answers respondents can give. Quantitative data is easy to analyse but lacks detail.

Page 2

Interviews:

An interview is a 'live' encounter where the interviewer asks a set range of questions to assess an interviewee's thoughts and/or experiences. There are two main types of interview; structured and unstructured.

Structured Interviews:

Structured interviews are made up of a pre-determined set of questions that are asked in a fixed order. It is like a questionnaire but done face-to-face/over the phone in real time

Easy to replicate

Standardised format reduces differences between interviewers

It is not possible for the interviewers to deviate from the topic/elaborate their points which can be frustrating

Unstructured Interview:

Unstructured interviews are like conversations, there are no set questions. There is a general aim that needs to be discussed and interaction is usually free-flowing. The interviewee is encouraged to expand and elaborate their answers as prompted by the interviewer.

More flexibility as the interviewer can follow up points as they arise and can gain insight into the worldview of the interviewee

Analysis of data is difficult - the researcher may have to sift through irrelevant information making drawing a conclusion difficult

There is a risk interviewees may lie however experienced interviewers should be able to establish sufficient empathy with the participant so when sensitive/personal topics are discussed, any responses given are more truthful

Semi-structured Interviews:

Many interviews are likely to be a mixture of structured and unstructured interviews. There is a list of questions that have been worked out in advance but interviewers are also free to ask follow up questions when they feel it is appropiate e.g. interview for a job