Self-report questionnaires are a way for researchers to ask people questions about themselves in order to understand how they feel or what they believe (Singleton & Straights, 2010). Questionnaires usually have different response options to choose from, which makes it easy for the researchers to score the answers. They are commonly used in psychology because they are simple to administer and score (Simms, 2008).
When psychologists create questionnaires, they follow a process that involves reading and researching about the topic, testing the questions with a small group, and checking the questionnaire for accuracy (Bhavsar & Ntoumanis, 2019). They also try to make sure that the questions are similar to each other and that they measure what they’re supposed to. Finally, they try to show that the questionnaire is measuring what it’s supposed to by comparing it to other ways of measuring the same thing (Clark & Watson, 1995).
However, relying solely on questionnaire data has some limitations. To make sure that the results are accurate, researchers might also use other methods, like observing people or measuring their body responses. This is called triangulation (Kelle et al., 2019).
Clark, L. A., & Watson, D. (1995). Constructing validity; Basic issues in objective scale development. Psychological Assessment, 7, 309319.
Kelle, U., Kühberger, C., & Bernhard, R. (2019). How to use mixed-methods and triangulation designs: An introduction to history education research. History Education Research Journal.
Simms, L. J. (2008). Classical and modern methods of psychological scale construction. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2(1), 414433.
Singleton, R. A., & Straights, B. C. (2010). Approaches to social research (5th ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.