Projective techniques

Projective Techniques used in Research

1. PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES PRESENTED BY: ZURICKA DA COSTA 1 st YEAR M.Sc FMCON

2. PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUE Sometimes called as indirect interview techniques. Projective techniques used for collection of data which have been developed by psychologist to use projections of the respondents for inferring about the underlying motives, urges or intentions which are such that the respondents either resists them or is unable to figure out himself.

3. In projective technique the respondent in supplying information tends unconsciously to project his own attitudes or feelings on the subject under study. They play an important role in motivational researches or in attitude surveys.

4. The use of these techniques require intensive specialised training. This involves a wide array of games and tasks in which the respondents need to participate during and interview or group schemed to extend, facilitate or enhance discussion. These are based on the idea that someone will project his/her own beliefs or feelings onto imaginary situation or person.

5. TYPES OF PROJECTIVE TECHNIQUES Lindzey proposed a five-way classification of projective technique methods based on the types of response.

6. ASSOCIATION TECHNIQUE This technique requires the subject to respond at the presentation of stimulus (word) with the first thing that comes to mind. So as to extract information regarding words that have maximum association (meaning). In this test the respondent is asked to mention the first word that comes in the mind.

7. E.g : Interviewer says COLD and the respondent may respond by saying HOT. This is mostly used in marketing research to find the quality that is mostly associated with the brand of a product.

8. COMPLETION TECHNIQUES Completion projective techniques supply the subject with stimulus that is incomplete and the subject is required to complete it as he/she wishes. There two types: Sentence completion Story completion

9. Sentence completion test: The subject is required to complete a sentence. It reveals his/her attitude towards the topic. The technique permits the testing not only to few words but of ideas as well and thus help in developing hypothesis and construction of questionnaires. This technique is quick and easy to use. E.g : Working with others all the time is ____________.

10. Story completion test: The researcher contrives stories instead of sentences and asks the informants to complete them.

11. CONSTRUCTION TECHNIQUE Here the focus is on the product as it is related to the subject. The subject is required to produce or construct something at direction, usually a story or a picture. There are several pictorial techniques used in construction techniques. The important ones are:

12. Thematic appreciation test (TAT): Consists a set of pictures of a normal everyday event and the respondents are asked to describe what they think the picture represent.

13. Rosenzweig test: This test uses a cartoon format wherein we have series of cartoons with empty “Balloons'”. The respondents are asked to put their own word in the empty balloon space.

14. Rorschach test: This test consists of 10 cards having prints of inkblots, wherein the design happens to be symmetrical but meaningless. Respondents are asked to describe what they perceive in them.

15. Holtzman inkblot test (HIT): It is a modification of Rorschach test and consists of 45 cards which are based on colour, movement, shading and other factors. One response per card is interpreted at three levels of appropriateness.

16. Tomkins-Horn picture arrangement test: This test is designed for group administrations with five plates, each containing three sketches that may be arranged in different ways to portray sequences, which participants consider reasonable.

17. EXPRESSIVE TECHNIQUE The subject is required to draw, role play, act or paint a particular situation or concept. Expressive techniques generally concentrate on the way in which something is constructed by the subject as against on what it represents.

18. ORDERING CHOICE This type of projective technique is the most frequently used in quantitative researchers. This technique is generally used informally in qualitative researches when the subjects explain why specific things are ‘most’ or ‘least’ important or to order, rank or categorize some factors related to topics under research

19. ADVANTAGES The amount, richness and accuracy of the information collected is reliable to an extent. These techniques give a view of the total functioning of individual. If the research is related to personality, beliefs, values, motivation or other aspects related to individuals, their behaviours and unique cognitions.

20. In aspects of conventional focus group discussions or intensive individual interviews, these projective techniques can be employed. In qualitative research project, projective techniques may be employed as the basis of ‘breaking the ice’ in a focus group. Rendering new energy in a group discussion and to enlighten the tone or mood of proceedings, subjects enjoy projective techniques. Wide range of ideas are encouraged and there is no right or wrong answer

21. DISADVANTAGES The interpretative skills are required in the researcher to handle the complexity of interpretation of projective technique. Highly research staff have to employed hence it is expensive to administer. To project themselves into roles the researchers wants them to do, it may be difficult to get the subjects.

22. CONCLUSION Projective techniques put relatively low strain on participants. Furthermore , using a variety of techniques as opposed to direct questioning boosts engagement and increase participant enjoyment. When used correctly, they are useful tools that can uncover true motivations behind behaviours and subconscious attitudes.

23. BIBLIOGRAPHY Kothari CR, Garg G. Methods of data collection. Research Methodology: methods and techniques. New age international publishers. 3 rd edition. Pg.no : 104-07. Sharma SK. Tools and methods of data collection. Nursing research and statistics. Elsevier publishers. 2 nd edition. Pg.no : 279-82