Quantitative and Qualitative Methods of Data Collection. Qualitative methods – interviews and focus groups Objective quantitative – physiological responses Subjective quantitative – checklists and rating scales.

qualitative methods of data collection Self-reports – written or spoken answers to questions or statements asked by researchers free responses. Pros: Allow detailed responses. Allow researcher to ask follow up questions Cons: Difficult to summarise/score. Data analysis is time consuming Two types – interviews and focus groups.

Interviews Can be structured (with predetermined questions and fixed ways of replying), semi structured (guidelines for questions being asked but timing and phrasing is open), or unstructured (no fixed questions or ways to respond). Respondents describe their response in their own words

Focus Groups Interviewer asks members of the group a series of open- ended questions Participants encouraged to share opinions, ask questions and expand on other peoples responses Assumed that interaction helps people to explore, clarify and articulate their responses. 6-8 members, researcher is facilitator Group discussion is recorded for later analysis

objective quantitative measures in research Physiological responses Includes things such as heart rate, temperature, electrical conductivity of the skin.

subjective quantitative measures in research advantages – can be statistically analysed. Easy to complete. Less data to process. disadvantages – restricts responses. Social desirability. No follow up. Two types – rating scales and checklists

Rating scales Series of fixed-response questions or statements about different aspects of a factor which respondents indicate their abilities, attitudes, views or opinions. Can measure: Direction – whether in favour or against Strength – how strongly people feel Most commonly used – Likert Scale. Where someone is presented a statement, and they have to indicate the strength to which they agree with the statement from strongly disagree -> strongly sagree or circle number 1-5 where 1 = strongly disagree and 5 = strongly agree.

Checklists Participant are presented with statements or questions and can either identify with it or not. Experimenters then add up number of ticks present. eg personality scales, depression or anxiety measures where boxes are ticked