Projective Techniques used in Research

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

3. 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.

4. • 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.

5. • 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.

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

7. 4. •Expressive techniques
5. •Ordering techniques
1. •Association technique
2. •Completion technique
3. •Construction technique

8. 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.

9. • 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.

11. 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

12. 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
____________.

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

16. 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:

17. 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.

19. 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.

22. 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.

25. 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.

26. 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.

27. 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.

29. 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

31. 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.

32. • 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

33. 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.

34. 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.

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