Interview and Questionnaire Techniques to Assess Free-Set Goals: Relationships With Depression

Date of Graduation

Spring 2003

Degree

Master of Science in Psychology

Department

Psychology

Committee Chair

Thomas Kane

Abstract

This research investigated interviews and questionnaires as alternative methods to collect free-set goals and examined whether the goals of depressed and non-depressed students differed. College students first wrote their goals on a questionnaire and then were interviewed so that they could elaborate on those goals. Raters rated the difficulty and specificity of goals reported in both interviews and questionnaires to test which was the most valid method to collect goal statements. Correlational results indicated that interviews, when compared to questionnaires, were marginally better ways to collect goal difficulty statements, but results did not find differences in the techniques with respect to goal specificity . Structural equation modeling was in support of those findings. Goal specificity and difficulty were analyzed to evaluate whether depressed and non-depressed students differed with respect to goal-setting. Non-significant findings contributed to an already mixed body of research that has examined depression and goal-setting.

Subject Categories

Psychology

Copyright

© Ingrid Berger De Tesouro

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Dissertation/Thesis

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