In which assessment method, person provides factual information about himself/herself and/or opinions, beliefs etc. that he/she holds?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Self-report
Option (1) Experiment — Incorrect. In an experiment the investigator deliberately changes one factor under controlled conditions and observes its effect on behaviour; for example, studying whether noise lowers students’ scores by testing one group in a noisy room and another in a quiet room. The information comes from measured behaviour, not from a person describing herself or himself.
Option (2) Observation — Incorrect. Observation employs systematic, organised and objective procedures to record behaviour as it occurs naturally, such as mother-child interactions. The information comes from the observer, not from the person telling about herself or himself.
Option (3) Case study — Incorrect. A case study is an in-depth study of an individual, her or his psychological attributes and history, in the context of the psychosocial and physical environment. It draws on many methods, such as interview, observation, questionnaire and tests, and is not the person’s own report alone.
Option (4) Self-report — Correct. Self-report is a method in which a person provides factual information about herself or himself and/or opinions, beliefs, etc. that she or he holds. Such information may be obtained through an interview schedule, a questionnaire, a psychological test or a personal diary.
Note 1: The method in Option (1), ‘experiment’, is not in the NCERT book (2023-24), which NTA followed in 2025, and is not in the NCERT book (2025-26) either; explained here for the benefit of the students.
Note 2: A similar question was also asked in CUET (UG) 2026 on 31-05-2026 (Slot 1).
NCERT (2025-26): “Assessment Methods … Case Study is an in-depth study of the individual in terms of her/his psychological attributes, psychological history in the context of her/his psychosocial and physical environment. Case studies are widely used by clinical psychologists. Case analyses of the lives of great people can also be highly illuminating for those willing to learn from their life experiences. Case studies are based on data generated by different methods, e.g. interview, observation, questionnaire, psychological tests, etc. Observation involves employing systematic, organised, and objective procedures to record behavioural phenomena occurring naturally in real time. Certain phenomena such as mother-child interactions can be easily studied through observation. The major problems with observational methods are that the observer has little control over the situation and the reports may suffer from subjective interpretations of the observer. Self-Report is a method in which a person provides factual information about herself/himself and/or opinions, beliefs, etc. that s/he holds. Such infor mation may be obtained by using an interview schedule or a questionnaire, a psychological test, or a personal diary.” “Self-report Measures … It was Allport who suggested that the best method to assess a person is by asking her/him about herself/himself. This led to the use of self-report measures. These are fairly structured measures, often based on theory, that require subjects to give verbal responses using some kind of rating scale. The method requires the subject to objectively report her/his own feelings with respect to various items. The responses are accepted at their face value.…” |