This volume includes a set of chapters based on presentations given during a conference that presented recent findings about self report. As the chapters in this volume will document, psychological and social processes influence storage and recall of self-report information. They show that there are conditions under which self-reports should be readily accepted by the clinician or researcher, and that there are other conditions where healthy scepticism is required. Methods for improving the accuracy of self-reports are demonstrated, ranging from fine-tuning interviews and questionnaires to employing emerging technologies to collect data in ways that minimise bias and encourage accurate reporting. Representing a diverse group of professions including sociology, law, psychology, and medicine, the contributing authors are some of the finest scientists working on self-report in the world and their contributions to the field have been enormous. They set out to achieve three goals: (i) to increase general awareness of the importance of self-report in science and in practice, (ii) to disseminate information about innovative ways of improving reports, and (iii) to stimulate research about self-report. (A)
Samenvatting