4.2.3.T3 Self-report techniques Quiz: AQA Psychology, Unit 2

The 20 questions

1. A closed question in a questionnaire is one that:

   • Is answered by the interviewer rather than the respondent, who records the answer
   • Allows the respondent to answer in their own words, with no set options to choose from
   • Asks the respondent to describe their feelings in detail, without any structure at all
   • Offers a fixed set of answer options for the respondent to choose from

2. An open question is one that:

   • Allows the respondent to answer freely in their own words
   • Offers only yes or no as the possible answers, so the response is restricted
   • Is asked by a computer rather than a person, using automated voice prompts
   • Limits responses to a single number chosen from a fixed numerical scale

3. A structured interview is one in which:

   • The interviewer observes behaviour without asking any questions of the participant at all
   • The interviewer asks the same questions in the same order to every participant
   • Participants write their own questions for the interviewer to answer during the session
   • The interviewer asks questions as they occur to them in an open conversation with each person

4. An unstructured interview is one in which:

   • Only closed questions are used, with fixed answers that cannot be changed by the interviewer
   • The participant is not asked any questions at all, and simply speaks about the topic
   • The interviewer follows a free-flowing conversation with flexible questions
   • The same fixed questions are asked in the same order to every single participant

5. Social desirability bias refers to:

   • The bias that a researcher's expectations introduce into the answers recorded
   • The tendency to give answers that others will view favourably
   • The tendency to agree with every statement that is presented in the questionnaire
   • The tendency to answer randomly when the questions are unclear or poorly worded

6. Closed questions are easier to analyse than open questions because:

   • Responses fall into fixed categories that can be counted and compared
   • They can only be answered by people with high literacy and strong reading skills
   • They always produce qualitative data, which is rich but hard to count consistently
   • They allow respondents to give unlimited detail, so that answers are hard to compare

7. Open questions produce rich qualitative data because they:

   • Force respondents to choose between two answers that may not match their view
   • Remove all variation from the responses, so every answer is identical in form
   • Let respondents explain their views in their own words
   • Make data collection quicker than any other method used in the social sciences

8. A researcher wants to explore the experiences of people coping with grief in depth. Which interview type is most suitable?

   • Structured observation with a checklist
   • Unstructured interview
   • Closed questionnaire with a rating scale
   • Structured interview with closed questions

9. A researcher wants to compare answers from 1000 people on the same scale. Which approach is best suited?

   • An unstructured interview with open-ended questions
   • A case study of a single respondent
   • A content analysis of diary entries
   • A closed questionnaire with standardised items

10. A questionnaire asks, 'How much do you exercise?' with no time frame or units. What is the main problem?

    • The question contains a leading statement that pushes people to a particular answer
    • The question uses only closed options, which restricts how people can respond to it
    • The question is too long for respondents to answer within the time allowed for it
    • The question is ambiguous, so respondents may interpret it in different ways

11. A questionnaire on drug use may produce under-reporting because respondents want to appear law-abiding. Which bias explains this?

    • Investigator effect on respondents
    • Random allocation bias in sampling
    • Social desirability bias
    • Order effect in the questionnaire

12. A major strength of self-report techniques is that they:

    • Eliminate all bias from the research process
    • Measure behaviour directly without relying on people's accounts
    • Always produce data that can be checked against objective records
    • Are quick and inexpensive to use with large samples

13. In an interview, the interviewer nods and smiles more when participants give the answer the interviewer expects. What is the problem?

    • Counterbalancing failure, which means the order of questions was not varied at all
    • Investigator effects that guide participants towards the expected answers
    • Ceiling effect in the results, where scores cluster at the top of the scale used
    • Random sampling error that makes the sample differ from the population in size

14. Evaluate self-report data. Which improvement would most help reduce its unreliability?

    • Asking only one leading question to focus responses on the topic of interest
    • Removing all closed questions from the questionnaire so responses are more varied
    • Piloting the questionnaire and using standardised questions and instructions
    • Interviewing only people the researcher already knows, to make them more comfortable

15. Why might closed questions lack validity?

    • They always ask for too much detail, so respondents tire quickly and answer carelessly for the rest
    • They produce data that cannot be counted, so the results cannot be summarised statistically at all
    • They are never used in questionnaires, because researchers avoid fixed options in every case
    • Fixed options may not reflect the respondent's true views, so responses are forced into categories

16. A researcher uses both a questionnaire and an interview on the same topic. What is the main benefit?

    • It makes the questionnaire unnecessary, because the interview alone gives all the data
    • Triangulation, which allows the findings to be checked against each other
    • It guarantees the results are free from social desirability bias in every respect
    • It removes the need for any ethical approval, since two methods show the research is safe

17. A self-report technique that produces numerical responses on a five-point scale is generating which type of data?

    • Secondary data
    • Quantitative data
    • Ordinal data only, with no numbers
    • Qualitative data

18. Interviewer characteristics such as age or accent may affect responses. What is this an example of?

    • Interviewer effect
    • Operational definition error
    • Random allocation error
    • Order effect

19. Self-report data are often described as primary data. Why?

    • The data are always stored in a national archive where any researcher can access them
    • The researcher collects the data directly for their own study
    • The data cannot be analysed by the researcher, who must send them to an outside expert
    • The data were collected by someone else for another purpose and then reused by the researcher

20. A research team says their questionnaire is 'closed and reliable'. Which claim is most accurate?

    • Closed questions produce only qualitative data, because the options are descriptive words chosen in advance
    • The closed format makes scoring consistent, but reliability also depends on clear wording and standard administration
    • Reliability is irrelevant for questionnaires, because the answers are always consistent by default and need no checking at all
    • Closed questions are always reliable and valid in every setting, whatever the wording or procedure used

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