Self-Reports (non- experimental) Psychological Investigations

Research that uses the non-experimental method…

Content Page SLIDES 1. Describe & Evaluate the Method 2. Hypothesis & Variables n/a 3. Design 4. Sampling Method 5. Operationalisation & Measurement n/a 6. Reliability & Validity of measurement 7. Ethical Issues 8. Data (Graphical & Conclusions) 9. How would improve…? 10. Writing a Procedure

1. Description & Evaluation Self Reports

The 2 uses of a Self-Report * Data Collection * Research Method

Self-Report Nature & Use Advantages Disadvantages

Questionnaires Nature & Use Advantages Disadvantages

Structured Interview Nature & Use Advantages Disadvantages

Unstructured Interview Nature & Use Advantages Disadvantages

Semi-Structured Interview Nature & Use Advantages Disadvantages

3. Design Self-Report

Types of Questions Open Closed: Fixed Choice Rating Scale Likert Scale

How to construct a questionnaire Types of closed questions 1.Which of the following factors at work makes you feel stressed? Noise at work Lack of control Too much to do Workmates Bored No job satisfaction 2. I drive to work 5 days a week. Yes No 3. Work is stressful. Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree 4. On a scale of 1-5 (1 being horrible and 5 being perfect rate your ability to park a car

Open Questions Definition Advantages Disadvantages

Closed Questions Definition Advantages Disadvantages

How to construct a questionnaire There are three issues to consider when writing questions: 1.Clarity:

How to construct a questionnaire 2. Bias:

How to construct a questionnaire 3. Analysis:

How to construct a questionnaire When designing a questionnaire there are further issues beyond writing good questions. It is a good idea to conduct a pilot study to test out the clarity of the questions and any other difficulties that might be encountered. A pilot study is done in order to find out if certain things don’t work. For example, participants may not understand the instructions or may guess what the experiment is about. They may get very bored because there are too many tasks or questions and not give truthful answers.

Variables CONFOUNDING/ EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE Variables other than the participants’ beliefs that may bear any effect on the behaviour/ responses to the questions that are asked of them. Three main types 1. Subject variables: age, gender, health status, mood, background, etc. 2. Demand Characteristics: The participants answering the questions the way that they think the researcher would want them answered. 3. Social Desirability: The participants answering the questions to make them look in a good light. 4. Situational variables: Air temperature, level of activity, lighting, and the time of day.

Variables CONFOUNDING/ EXTRANEOUS VARIABLE Variables other than the participants’ beliefs that may bear any effect on the behaviour/ responses to the questions that are asked of them. Three main types 5. Researcher Bias: This can be in the questions themselves, the researcher being present or in how the researcher analyses the qualitative results. 6. Leading questions: questions that lead the participants to answer a certain way

4. Sampling Method

Sample Definition Selected to be representative of the population Evaluation May be biased,therefore can’t generalise Population Definition The group of people whom the sample is drawn Evaluation May be biased

Random sampling Definition Every member of the population has an equal chance of being selected Advantage Potentially unbiased Disadvantage Needs to be drawn from a large population to be unbiased

Participants for Psychological Research

Volunteer Sample Definition Participants become part of a study by volunteering Advantage Access to a variety of participants Disadvantage Volunteer biased

Are you available?

Opportunity Sample Definition Selecting people who are more easily available Advantage Easy Disadvantage Very biased

6. Reliability & Validity of Measurement Evaluate Assess/Test Improve

Reliability: Consistency How could we test/assess the strength of the reliability? Internal Reliability Split-half method External Reliability Test-Retest

Validity: The legitimacy of a study Internal Validity Demand Characteristics/Social Desirability/Researcher Bias: Features of a self-report the elicit a particular response form participants. Participant understanding Leading Questions External Validity Ecological validity: generalise from one setting to another Population validity: generalise from one group of people to everyone

5. How could we test/assess the strength of the validity? Concurrent Criterion

6. Ethical Issues  Deception  Informed consent  Psychological harm  Informed consent  Difficulty debriefing  Privacy  Confidentiality

8. How would you improve Validity: Reliability : Ethics:

7. Data (central tendency) Descriptive statistics

2,4,4,5,6,6,7,7 8,8,8,8,8 9,10,11,11,12

Measures of central tendency Mean: Add values, divide by number of values Makes use of all the data  Can be misrepresentative if there are extreme values. Median: Middle value in an ordered list Not affected by extreme scores  Not as ‘sensitive’ as the mean Mode: The most common value(s) The mist common value(s)  Not useful when there are several modes

7. Data

Analysis of data Quantitative Data Easy to analysis Produces neat conclusions  Oversimplifies reality Qualitative Data Represents the complexity of human behaviour Provides rich data  More difficult to detect patterns and reach conclusions  Subjective, affected by personal expectations and beliefs

Measures of dispersion RangeHighest to lowest Easy to calculate  Affected by extreme values Standard Deviation Mathematical calculation Precise, all values taken into account  Harder to calculate

Graphs & Charts Bar Charts Graph showing frequency data; data need not be continuous

7. Drawing Conclusions

9. Writing a procedure June 2011 A study investigating factors influencing Inter-personal attraction was conducted by psychologists using the self-report method. This involved asking people questions about how important age, appearance, personality, occupation and money were when forming romantic relationships. People were approached in a local shopping centre one weekday morning and asked if they would take a questionnaire home to complete and return using a pre-paid envelope. Evaluate the reliability and validity of this research (10)

Glossary of extraneous variables: Participant Reactivity

Participant reactivity: The fact that participants react to cues in an experimental situation Hawthorne Effect Increased attention becomes a confounding variable Demand Characteristics Features of an experiment that a participant unconsciously, responds to when searching for clues about how to behave. A confounding variable. Social Desirability bias The desire to appear favourably

Investigator Effect

Investigator effect: Anything the investigator does which has an effect on a participant’s performance in a study other then what was intended. Interviewer bias The same in an interview sutation, through, for example, leading wuestions and the Greenspoon effect Experimenter bias The effect of an experimenter’s expectations, communicated unconsciously, on a participant’s behaviour