Limitations Some subjects may have difficulty expressing their thoughts Some subjects may not give honest answers due to self-perceived pressures to conform to social norms, thus affecting the accuracy and validity of such data It is difficult to convert responses to quantitative data, thus making it difficult to statistically analyse & consequently interpret data. Hence analysis becomes subjective (there is a risk of experimenter effect). Questionnaires Data collection technique: Explanation Are a written set of standardised questions that can be taken anonymously Advantage The anonymous nature of self-reports encourages subjects to be more candid (honest) in the nature of their responses. Relatively easy in the modern era to direct to subjects e.g. online, email, mail, etc., hence a relatively cheap means of data collection Limitations Subjects may misinterpret questions, thus affecting accuracy/ validity of data Lengthy Questionnaires can lead to boredom, thus affecting accuracy of data and ability of the researcher to generate conclusions. Surveys Data collection technique: Explanation A group of participants are asked to respond to set of questions by either - Face to face, mail, phone, etc. Advantage It is a practical way of gathering information from a large number of participants Limitations It is difficult, time consuming & costly to obtain a representative sample i.e. a small group that accurately reflects the larger population, hence we need to be careful generalising results to the larger population if we are unable to obtain a representative sample Wording effect: occurs when the phrasing or order of questions, affects how participants answer Interviews Data collection technique: Explanation Can take the form of face-to-face/ phone forms of self-reports If using an unstructured interview, the interviewer has the flexibility to ask follow-up questions to Advantage responses in order to add to the richness of data collected Limitations Data can be difficult to summarise, analyse & describe Dot point # 4: Statistics Measures of central tendency including mean, median and mode Interpretation of p-values and conclusions Evaluation of research in terms of generalising the findings to the population
Limitations Some subjects may have difficulty expressing their thoughts Some subjects may not give honest answers due to self-perceived pressures to conform to social norms, thus affecting the accuracy and validity of such data It is difficult to convert responses to quantitative data, thus making it difficult to statistically analyse & consequently interpret data. Hence analysis becomes subjective (there is a risk of experimenter effect). Data collection technique: Questionnaires Explanation Are a written set of standardised questions that can be taken anonymously Advantage The anonymous nature of self-reports encourages subjects to be more candid (honest) in the nature of their responses. Relatively easy in the modern era to direct to subjects e.g. online, email, mail, etc., hence a relatively cheap means of data collection Limitations Subjects may misinterpret questions, thus affecting accuracy/ validity of data Lengthy Questionnaires can lead to boredom, thus affecting accuracy of data and ability of the researcher to generate conclusions. Data collection technique: Surveys Explanation A group of participants are asked to respond to set of questions by either - Face to face, mail, phone, etc. Advantage It is a practical way of gathering information from a large number of participants Limitations It is difficult, time consuming & costly to obtain a representative sample i.e. a small group that accurately reflects the larger population, hence we need to be careful generalising results to the larger population if we are unable to obtain a representative sample Wording effect: occurs when the phrasing or order of questions, affects how participants answer Data collection technique: Interviews Explanation Can take the form of face-to-face/ phone forms of self-reports Advantage If using an unstructured interview, the interviewer has the flexibility to ask follow-up questions to responses in order to add to the richness of data collected Limitations Data can be difficult to summarise, analyse & describe Dot point # 4: Statistics Measures of central tendency including mean, median and mode Interpretation of p-values and conclusions Evaluation of research in terms of generalising the findings to the population
epsych_notes_-_cbc.docx