Limitations of Self Report Data Essay Example
Limitations of Self Report Data
Abstract
Self-report data may be obtained from a test or an interview format of a self-report study. The format of self-report study that will be used to discuss limitations of self-report data will be a test and a personality disorder test will be used as an example. For specific example answers for the test I completed the results all rated “low” for all personality disorders. Limitations arise from decreased reliability and validity and issues with credibility of responses due to response bias. Content validity, construct validity and criterion-related validity as well as test-retest reliability will be presented. The forms of response biases that will be discussed are social desirability, acquiescence, halo effect, extreme responding, midpoint responding, random responding, negative/positive bias, memory recall bias and cultural bias. The discussion will conclude with the role self-report data plays in psychology today.
Limitations of Self-Report Data
Self-report data has the advantage that they come directly from the test taker themselves and not from a third party; who would know someone better than themselves? Self-report studies can examine a large number of variables such as feelings, behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. They are easy to administer, inexpensive and most take a modest amount of time to complete (McDonald, 2008). Self-report tests are able to assess matters that are not observable such as feelings, beliefs and opinions. The scoring of self-report tests is standardized whether it be a scoring template for pen and pencil formats or computer-based interpretations for tests whose answers are entered into a data file (Hood & Johnson, 2007). However, it does have some limitations. The validity of causal conclusions drawn from self-report data may be of concern because it can be influenced by factors such as the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the test, the context
Abstract
Self-report data may be obtained from a test or an interview format of a self-report study. The format of self-report study that will be used to discuss limitations of self-report data will be a test and a personality disorder test will be used as an example. For specific example answers for the test I completed the results all rated “low” for all personality disorders. Limitations arise from decreased reliability and validity and issues with credibility of responses due to response bias. Content validity, construct validity and criterion-related validity as well as test-retest reliability will be presented. The forms of response biases that will be discussed are social desirability, acquiescence, halo effect, extreme responding, midpoint responding, random responding, negative/positive bias, memory recall bias and cultural bias. The discussion will conclude with the role self-report data plays in psychology today.
Limitations of Self-Report Data
Self-report data has the advantage that they come directly from the test taker themselves and not from a third party; who would know someone better than themselves? Self-report studies can examine a large number of variables such as feelings, behaviours, attitudes and beliefs. They are easy to administer, inexpensive and most take a modest amount of time to complete (McDonald, 2008). Self-report tests are able to assess matters that are not observable such as feelings, beliefs and opinions. The scoring of self-report tests is standardized whether it be a scoring template for pen and pencil formats or computer-based interpretations for tests whose answers are entered into a data file (Hood & Johnson, 2007). However, it does have some limitations. The validity of causal conclusions drawn from self-report data may be of concern because it can be influenced by factors such as the psychometric properties (validity and reliability) of the test, the context