Line width parameters for a number of spectral lines in the pure rotational spectrum of formaldehyde (CH20) and formic acid (HCOOH) have been measured using a sourcemodulated microwave spectrograph. All transitions studied in this investigation were of the type ΔJ=O (i.e. Q-branch transitions), with ΔK-1=0 and ΔK+1 =+l. The center frequencies of the measured lines varied from 8662.0 MHz to 48612.70 MHz. The experimentally determined collision diameters for self broadening interactions involving HCOOH and CH2 Q molecules were found to be 2 - 27 per cent less than those calculated by the Murphy-Boggs theory of collision broadening. Much better agreement between a simplified broadening scheme for symmetric top molecules and the observed foreign-gas collision diameters is obtained by using Birnbaum's theory.