Research Methods: Questionnaires & Interviews PDF

Research Methods What does success look like? Know the difference between questionnaires and interviews Ethics recap task – on sheet Use four colours (one for each issue) Highlight each issue, then the four boxes that explain the issue and how to deal with i...

Research Methods What does success look like? Know the difference between questionnaires and interviews Ethics recap task – on sheet Use four colours (one for each issue) Highlight each issue, then the four boxes that explain the issue and how to deal with it. Answers on the next slide :) CONSENT PROTECTION FROM HARM DECEPTION CONFIDENTIALITY & PRIVACY  Withholding any information In the debriefing, may occur because it could Informed participants need to be Participants’ personal data Protection from affect the natural behaviour like their name and of the participants. Mild Consent told that they have the occupation shouldn’t be harm deception about the right to withhold any data made public. research is only justified if if they are not happy with the benefit of research any aspect of the study. justifies the aims. Participants’ names should Participants who have felt Participants’ physical and not be referred to. Instead uncomfortable or anxious Produce a letter for In field experiments or psychological safety needs participants should be during the study or have participants explaining the observations participants to be ensured at all times. numbered or their initials questioned their own aims of the research. can give actual consent at Participants shouldn’t be could just be used when abilities should be reassured Parents/ guardians need to the end of the study. made to feel embarrassed writing up the research by the psychologists at the sign this is the participant is or stressed. report. end of the study. under 16. Participants should not be Participants need to be lied to or misled about the Participants must be offered given information about the aims of the study unless the counselling if they are intended research Confidentiality deception is mild or justified showing any signs of Deception procedures in order to be and by the importance of the distress. able to make a decision study. about participation. privacy Participants need to be told It is regarded as acceptable At the end of the study, Psychologists should not Participants should be that they have the right to to observe people in public participants should be fully share their data with other reminded they are free to withdraw at any time if they places debriefed and informed researchers unless the leave at any time to stop are not happy with any about the true aims of the participant is made aware of them feeling distressed. aspect of the study. study and the existence of this and agrees in advance. any other groups. They should be told that their data will be protected. Are you listening? Task 1: Make sure you are sitting opposite someone. Decide who will be Person A and Person B. Person A: talk for two minutes about what you did last summer or what you’ll be doing this summer. Person B: do not make eye contact. Do anything but pay attention to Person A. Discuss for 2 minutes: 1. How easy was it to talk for two minutes without the other person making eye contact/ showing interest? 2. What behaviours should we show to someone when we are showing an interest in what someone is saying? 3. In what real-life situation (s) are these behaviours important? Psychological research… Experimental method: Non-experimental methods: Type of experiment 1. Interviews Experimental design 2. Surveys/ Questionnaires 3. Observations 4. Case studies Non-experimental research Interviews and questionnaires -Interviews and questionnaires are both examples of self-report methods. -We can learn about human behaviour by asking people for their thoughts, feelings and opinions. 1. Interviews Usually a face to face conversation between 2 people, talking in real time. Can also be on the phone/ by text. There are 3 types of interview: Structured Unstructured Semi-structured Which one is this? 1. What do you normally do at lunchtime? 2. Is there enough time to eat your lunch? 3. Do you ever get bored at lunchtimes? 4. Do you think there is enough to do at lunchtimes? 5. What else would you like to see organised at lunchtimes? 6. Do you think a longer lunchtime would help you to relax? 7. Do you think a longer lunchtime would help you to concentrate in the afternoon?  Structured interview Questions are all pre-set and asked in a fixed order. Interviewer can ask follow up questions like ‘why do you think that?’ but these are also prepared beforehand. Which one is this? 1. Please could you tell me what you normally do at lunchtime? Unstructured interview A lot like a conversation. There may be a starter question, but after that the interviewer develops new questions based on answers given. Semi-structured interviews Most interviews are semi-structured. A number of questions are decided in advance, but then the interviewer ‘goes with the flow’. If they run out of questions they go back to the script. Good examples: job/ college interviews, interviews you hear on radio. Advantages / Disadvantages of interviews… They produce large amounts of useful information. Data from structured interviews can be analysed thoroughly However, data from unstructured interviews is much harder to analyse. This is because it cannot be compared. All interviews are very time consuming because it’s only possible to do one at a time. 2. Questionnaires (also called surveys) - A pre-prepared list of questions - Can be done face to face or by phone, text or post. Usually collect data from a lot of people. - Also used as a way of measuring the DV in an experiment. Questionnaires Closed questions can only be answered with a fixed range of answers, typically ‘yes’ or ‘no’ or on a scale of 1-10. Closed questions produce quantitative data. Quantitative data is numerical data (data based on numbers). Advantages / Disadvantages of questionnaires… Gathers lots of information from many people quickly. Takes time to prepare BUT sent to lots of people. Large number of responses so generalisations are easier to make Responses may not always be truthful – social desirability bias (giving answers they think will put them in a better light). Questions may be unclear or leading Lacks validity because of these. Open questions… A question where the respondent can give an individual answer/ answer in any way they wish. Open questions produce qualitative data (ie data that is not numerical/ uses letters/ words). Advantages and disadvantages of open questions… Provide a lot of useful information because respondents are able to fully explain their answers. They can take a long time to do and analyse, as the answers could all be different. Some respondents may not always be honest with their responses. Closed questions… A question where the respondent must choose their answer from a fixed range of possible answers. E.g., yes/no, rating scales (always – never and 1 – 10). Produces Quantitative data (numerical data) Advantages & disadvantages of closed questions: They provide information which is quick to analyse (e.g. for drawing graphs). They provide little detail because respondents don’t get the chance to explain their answers. Respondents may supply a ‘safe’ answer (e.g., unsure, not applicable, don't know). Questionnaire exercise Work in pairs/ small groups Write 1-2 questions you could ask about the topic: FOOD. Pass the sheet on to the next group and wait for your next sheet and repeat as above. Now edit the questionnaire. Are any questions unsuitable? Why? Re-write any unclear questions – e.g. by making open questions closed. Then write instructions and a debrief for participants in the boxes at the bottom. Recap- back of book 1. When an interview consists of a set of pre-planned questions it is…. 2. What’s a disadvantage of an un-structured interview? 3. Quantitative data is data based on…. 4. What kind of questions are more likely to provide quantitative data? 5. What’s the difference between an interview and a questionnaire? 6. Interviews and questionnaires are examples of……. Exam style questions A psychologist studied the effectiveness of a new therapy for depression. A group of participants received ten weeks of the therapy and were given a questionnaire to complete afterwards about how they were feeling. They were also interviewed about their experiences. 1. Explain the difference between a questionnaire and an interview. (3 marks) 2. Write one open question and one closed question that could have appeared in the questionnaire. (2 marks) 3. Explain one strength and one weakness of using questionnaires to find out how the participants were feeling. (4 marks) 4. Explain one weakness of using an interview to carry out research. (3 marks)