Research Methodology Multiple Choice Questions
Research Methodology Multiple Choice Questions
Answer Key:
1-d
2-a
3-a
4-c
5-d
6-a
7-c
8-d
9-b
10-a
Chapter 01
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
What is distinctive about "Mode 2" knowledge production?
Question 2
Which of the following is not an example of a middle-range theory?
b) Contingency theory
c) Strategic choice
d) Structuration
Question 3
An inductive theory is one that:
b) does not allow for findings to feed back into the stock of
knowledge.
c) uses quantitative methods whenever possible.
Question 4
What is the epistemological position held by a positivist?
Question 6
Which of the following is an ontological question?
According to Burrell & Morgan (1979) which one of the following is not a
paradigm within business research methods?
a) Radical structuralist
b) Radical positivist
c) Functionalist
d) Interpretative
Question 9
Quantitative research is:
Question 10
Qualitative research strategy places a value on:
Submit my answers
Chapter 01
Results
You have answered 2 out of 10 questions correctly.
Your percentage score is 20%.
Question 1
Feedback:
'Mode 2' knowledge production is seen as being more suited to management and
business research because it uses skills and experience of groups outside of academic
institutions to achieve practical advantage. Far from limiting emphasis on practical
dissemination of knowledge, it actively encourages application to management
problems.
Page reference: 7
Question 2
Feedback:
A deduction is a conclusion drawn logically from an argument or a discussion of
things previously established or known. Deductions can be expressed as hypotheses
which can then be tested, so answer (a) must be incorrect. However, when we have
gathered and analysed the research data, the research findings can be fed back into our
existing knowledge, which is a form of induction. This is because induction means
moving from the particular to the general. So answer (b) cannot be correct either. The
usual application of inductive theory, however, is to allow theory to emerge from our
findings. We find an interesting question, we gather data on it and we 'theorise' from
our findings. It may be that these 'theories' are, in reality, simply 'interesting insights'
rather than 'grand theories' but they can be valuable for all that. The methods used are
"neither here nor there" although it may be more likely for deductive theory to use
quantitative methods and for inductive approaches to use qualitative methods.
Page reference: 13
Question 4
out whether the place we work in, or the university we study in, actually exist
"outside" of the workers and students, say. We might say that the buildings fairly
obviously exist (although some philosophers feel we shouldn't be too sure about this!)
but what about the nature, or the culture, or the 'atmosphere' of those organizations.
Surely these depend a lot on the people in them? So the fundamental ontological
question for business research is as shown in answer (d).
Page reference: 21
Question 7
According to Burrell & Morgan (1979) which one of the following is not a paradigm
within business research methods?
Your answer:
a) Radical structuralist
Correct answer:
b) Radical positivist
Feedback:
Burrell & Morgan (1979) identified four such paradigms. Radical humanist is the "4 th"
of these, in addition to those listed as options "a", "c", and "d" in this question. In the
field of business research, each reflects a different set of assumptions about the nature
of organizations. These are useful to help us plan a research strategy but they may not
be quite as opposed to each other as was once thought. "Radical" indicates a belief in
showing how businesses should change for the better and the steps to be taken for this
change.
Page reference: 24
Question 9
Your answer:
b) generating theories through inductive research about social meanings.
Feedback:
We expect all research to be carried out according to the highest quality standards,
tested for validity and reliability and subjected to ethical considerations. Some
research studies numbers of things, like their instances and frequencies of occurrence
and the relationship of some things to others along these dimensions. We call these
studies 'quantitative'. 'Qualitative' studies, on the other hand, study the reasons people
do the things they do, how they feel about that, their general likes and dislikes. The
problem is that quantitative studies frequently are interested in how many people feel
the same way about something and qualitative studies might want to show what
percentage of respondents indicated particular feelings, for example. The real
difference between them is more likely to be found in their underlying research
orientations, with quantitative approaches being associated with positivism and
objectivism and qualitative approaches linked to interpretivism and constructionism.
Page reference: 27, 28
Chapter 02
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
What is a research design?
a) impressiveness.
b) trustworthiness.
c) joyfulness.
d) messiness.
Question 5
Naturalism has been defined as:
Question 6
In an experimental design, the dependent variable is:
a) the one that is not manipulated and in which any changes are
observed.
b) the one that is manipulated in order to observe any effects on
the other.
c) a measure of the extent to which personal values affect
research
d) an ambiguous concept whose meaning depends on how it is
defined.
Question 7
Question 9
Panel and cohort designs differ, in that:
b) Comparative design
c) Experimental design
d) Longitudinal design
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Chapter 02
Results
Correct answer:
b) the measures devised for concepts are stable on different occasions.
Feedback:
The essential question about research is its reliability. It is often the case
that concepts in the social sciences can be construed differently in
different social contexts, so the promise of repeatability makes readers
feel the results can be relied on more. But what is even more important is
that there should be not much variation (or none at all) in responses to
the same instruments by the same type of respondent. Bryman gives the
example of wild fluctuations in IQ test scores as an indicator of low
reliability of the test itself. When reviewing literature or consulting
secondary sources, we are certainly influenced by the reputation, or
simply good standing in the academic community, of the researcher. This
does not imply uncritical acceptance of their findings, however.
Page reference: 41
Question 3
"Internal validity" refers to:
Your answer:
b) whether or not the findings are relevant to the participants' everyday
lives.
Correct answer:
a) whether or not there is really a causal relationship between two
variables.
Feedback:
"Validity" has a special meaning in research, usually indicating the truth
of something, its authenticity. Many of our research activities can be seen
as valid steps towards producing a dissertation, for example, but our
conclusions will not be worthwhile unless our research was valid. If a
Chapter 03
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and then
press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Which of the following requirements for a dissertation may depend on your
institution?
a) Whether an abstract should be included
Question 2
The role of a project supervisor is to:
a) make sure you keep to your schedule and deadlines.
Question 3
You can manage your time and resources best, by:
a) working out a timetable.
Question 4
What did Marx (1997) mean when he suggested that "intellectual puzzles and
contradictions" can be a possible source of research questions?
a) The researcher may feel that there is a contradiction in the literature,
presenting a "puzzle" to be solved.
b) Students can develop their IQ levels by attempting to solve intellectual
puzzles.
c) Unless you can find a logical contradiction, you have no basis for conducting
research.
d) All of life is a puzzle, so any aspect of life can be researched.
Question 5
How can you tell if your research questions are really good?
a) If they guide your literature search.
Question 6
Which of the following should be included in a research proposal?
b) The difficulties you encountered with your previous reading on the topic.
Question 7
Which of the following should you think about when preparing your research?
a) Your sample frame and sampling strategy.
Question 8
Why is it helpful to keep a research diary or log book while you are conducting
your project?
a) To give you something to do in the early stages of your research when
nothing is happening.
b) Because funding councils generally demand to see written evidence that you
were working every day during the period of the research.
c) To keep a record of what you did and what happened throughout the research
process.
d) It can be added to your dissertation to ensure that you reach the required
word limit.
Question 9
What can you do to ensure your physical safety during your research?
a) Be alert to the possibility of exposure to danger.
c) Make sure someone knows where you are and how you can contact them in
an emergency.
d) All of the above.
Question 10
What practical steps can you take before you actually start your research?
a) Find out exactly what your institution's requirements are for a dissertation.
b) Make sure you are familiar with the hardware and software you plan to use.
Submit my answers
Clear my answers
Chapter 03
Results
Feedback:
Resources are scarce, whether of time, money, or institutional facilities. At
the outset of your research planning, it is advisable to work out a
timetable. This is not just an allocation of so many days or weeks to
particular aspects of your study but a calculation of feasibility of finishing
within the stipulated time. You may need to scale down the scope of your
research accordingly. Similarly with money. Some research projects are
more expensive than others because they involve more travel, for
example. Can you undertake this cost? Is it really worthwhile? As far as
institutional facilities are concerned, the first question concerns physical
availability, of tape recorders, computer software for data analysis, for
example but the second question concerns the number of others who
might also need those facilities at the same time as you. Don't be last in
the queue!
Page reference: 76
Question 4
What did Marx (1997) mean when he suggested that "intellectual puzzles
and contradictions" can be a possible source of research questions?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) The researcher may feel that there is a contradiction in the literature,
presenting a "puzzle" to be solved.
Feedback:
Marx (1997) presented a list of thirteen possible sources of research
questions, including personal experience, the existing literature, new
methods and theories and so on. It is well worthwhile studying the
complete list, even if you feel fairly confident of your own research
questions, because you may gain insights into your questions' theoretical
origins.
Page reference: 80 (Thinking deeply 3.1)
Question 5
How can you tell if your research questions are really good?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
It is important to formulate some clear research questions from the outset
of your project, because completely open-ended research can lead to the
collection of too much data and a lack of focus for the analysis. If you
decide on some fairly specific research questions before designing your
project, it will help to guide your literature search, data collection and
analysis, as well as form a coherent argument throughout your
dissertation. So if your questions are clear, researchable, connected to
the literature and linked closely together, you have good questions. Easy!
Page reference: 82, 83 (Tips and skills)
Question 6
Which of the following should be included in a research proposal?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Your choice of research methods and reasons for choosing them.
Feedback:
Almost certainly, your own institution will require you to prepare a
dissertation proposal, which is actually your proposal to conduct a specific
research study. The focus is, therefore, on the specific topic you have
selected and the precise methods you propose to use. You will, typically,
be asked to indicate some readings in the field of the research, usually so
Feedback:
It can be very helpful to keep a written log book or diary of the whole
period during which you conducted your project. This is because the
research process is typically long, busy and full of unexpected turns of
events. Keeping a record of what happened, and when, will help you to
monitor how well the research is progressing (in terms of survey response
rates, etc) and whether you are managing to answer your research
questions. It will also be an extremely useful resource when it comes to
writing up your "Methods" chapter later on, as you will already have a set
of notes about the research process in chronological order, and this will
encourage you to be reflexive about your own role in shaping the
outcomes of the project.
Page reference: 86
Question 9
What can you do to ensure your physical safety during your research?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
This is an unpleasant aspect of doing research, which cannot be ignored.
Unfortunately there are many situations nowadays where a researcher is
exposed to danger. Being aware of possible risks might make us think
again about the particular type of respondent we planned to interview or
the situation we planned to place ourselves in. "Tips and skills" on page
77 makes disturbing reading but does contain practical advice, including
the use of personal alarms. At least make sure you carry a mobile phone
so you can call someone and be reached by them. The research activity
can be enormous fun as well as richly satisfying but there is a downside.
Page reference: 87 (Tips and skills)
Question 10
What practical steps can you take before you actually start your research?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
Before writing your research proposal, when you are beginning to gather
your thoughts, in other words, there are practical steps you can take. All
of the answers shown for this question are correct, because they can stop
you from moving too far down a particular track only to discover later, or
be told later, that it simply isn't feasible. You can have access to a tape
recorder but do you really know how to use it, or change its batteries?
Your institution is a subscriber to SPSS but can you use it? This is the time
to learn about these things, not when trying to conduct an interview or
after your questionnaires have been returned.
Page reference: 88 (Checklist)
Chapter 04
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Why do you need to review the existing literature?
b) Because without it, you could never reach the required wordcount.
c) To find out what is already known about your area of interest.
Question 2
To read critically means:
Question 3
Which two of the following are legitimate frameworks for setting out a
literature review: 1. Constructing inter-textual coherence, 2.
a) 1 and 2
b) 2 and 3
c) 1 and 3
d) 2 and 4
Question 4
A systematic literature review is:
Question 6
What is meta-ethnography?
Question 7
What is a narrative literature review?
Question 9
According to the Harvard referencing convention, pick out the correct
version of showing this book in a bibliography:
Question 10
Which of the following statements about plagiarism is most accurate?
Chapter 04
Results
Question 2
To read critically means:
Your answer:
c) evaluating what you read in terms of your own research questions.
Feedback:
"Developing a critical approach to your reading is not necessarily one of
simply criticizing the work of others" (p94). Not all of what you read will
be relevant to your task, so you must have a clear focus on your research
questions as you read. Taking notes of your reactions is advised, in
addition to recording content. Most reading is uncritical by nature,
meaning that things are accepted just because they are written
somewhere. Even reading these comments critically would mean referring
back to the text for confirmation or elaboration. Critical, in that sense,
really just means using your intelligence and judgement. It also implies
openness, so beware of "judging the book by its cover"!
Page reference: 94
Question 3
Which two of the following are legitimate frameworks for setting out a
literature review: 1. Constructing inter-textual coherence, 2.
Deconstruction of textual coherence, 3. Problematizing the situation, 4.
Resolving discovered problems?
Your answer:
a) 1 and 2
Correct answer:
c) 1 and 3
Feedback:
Feedback:
"Meta-analysis involves summarizing the results of a large number of
quantitative studies and conducting various analytical tests to show
whether or not a particular variable has an effect" (p98). This is, indeed, a
highly sophisticated literature review technique, bordering on secondary
analysis. However, not all findings may have been published, so those
studied may not be fully representative.
Page reference: 98 (Key concept 4.4)
Question 6
What is meta-ethnography?
Your answer:
a) A technique for reviewing literature based exclusively on ethnographic
studies.
Correct answer:
b) A technique for synthesizing interpretations drawn from a number of
separate qualitative studies of the same phenomena.
Feedback:
Meta-ethnography synthesizes the conclusions drawn by various authors
from their studies of the same, or similar, phenomena. In this respect, it is
"a counterpart to meta-analysis in quantitative research" (p99). The
objectives are different, however, since in meta-ethnography a
"translation" (Noblit and Hare, 1988, cited on p89), is made into the
researcher's world view. In other words, there is an acceptance that this
research process "changes" the reviewed material in some way. To some
extent, this must be true of all literature reviewing. In meta-ethnography
the "translation" needs to be made explicit.
Page reference: 99,100 (Key concept 4.7)
Question 7
The internet is a powerful aid to research but its ease of use sometimes
causes problems. Complex sites may be difficult to navigate through a
second time and the URL may well have shown up via a search. Some
people advise the saving (or book-marking) of searches, a simple
procedure. In any event, the full URL and access dates are required for
proper referencing. Because of the dynamic nature of the internet, your
sources should be downloaded and saved for presentation (if required).
Page reference: 106
Question 9
According to the Harvard referencing convention, pick out the correct
version of showing this book in a bibliography:
Your answer:
a) Bryman, A. and Bell, E. (2011, 3e) Business Research Methods, Oxford;
Oxford University Press
Feedback:
The Harvard convention takes a little time to get used to but its popularity
as a form of author-date referencing lies in its ability to leave the main
body of text relatively uncluttered and obliges the use of a bibliography,
or list of references. In the bibliography, titles are listed alphabetically by
author, followed by year of publication, full title and publisher details.
Page reference: 112, 113 (Tips and skills)
Question 10
Which of the following statements about plagiarism is most accurate?
Your answer:
d) Plagiarism is such an awful crime that those found guilty should be
obliged to wear a scarlet "P" on their clothing.
Correct answer:
Chapter 05
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
There is a tendency for debates about ethics in social research to focus on
the most extreme cases of ethical transgression. Why might this create a
misleading impression?
a) Anything goes
b) Principled relativism
d) No choice
Question 3
Why is it argued that ethical transgression is pervasive in social research?
a) Physical injury
c) Impaired development
Question 5
Why is it important that personal data about research participants are
kept within secure, confidential records?
a) So that the participants cannot find out what has been written
about them.
b) In case individuals, places or organizations can be harmed
through identification or disclosure of personal information.
c) So that government officials, teachers and other people in
authority can have easy access to the data.
d) To enable the researcher to track down individuals and find
out more about their lives.
Question 6
Which method is most commonly associated with a lack of informed
consent?
a) In-depth interviewing
c) Covert observation
d) Structured interviewing
Question 7
Why is it "easier said than done" to ensure that the principle of informed
consent is adhered to?
Question 8
Apart from the fact that it is "not a nice thing to do", what is an important
ethical disadvantage of deceiving participants?
Question 9
Which of the following is an example of deception in business research?
Question 10
What problem does a research organization face when drawing up an
ethical code?
Chapter 05
Results
You have answered 0 out of 10 questions correctly.
Your percentage score is 0%.
Question 1
There is a tendency for debates about ethics in social research to focus on the
most extreme cases of ethical transgression. Why might this create a misleading
impression?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Because this implies that ethical concerns do not pervade all social research.
Feedback:
Writing about ethics in social research has typically centred on some extreme,
infamous cases of deception, invasions of privacy and so on. While these
examples help to illustrate our points convincingly, they can be misleading in
that ethical dilemmas affect all kinds of social research, down to the most
mundane and straightforward research designs.
Page reference: 123
Question 2
Which of the following ideas is not associated with the stance of situation ethics?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) Anything goes
Feedback:
One of the four main ethical stances that Bryman identifies is that of situation
ethics. This is the belief that there are no absolute rules of ethical research and
that each case must be examined individually. It may be that there was no other
way of studying a particularly important phenomenon and so "the end justifies
the means" and the researcher had "no choice" but to use this method.
However, this approach of "principled relativism" is not the same as the belief
that "anything goes", for it still demands that we draw a line between ethical
and unethical conduct and rule out some practices.
Page reference: 125 (Key concept 5.2)
Question 3
Why is it argued that ethical transgression is pervasive in social research?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) Because researchers rarely provide their participants with all the information
they might want to know about a project.
Feedback:
Another of the ethical stances that Bryman identifies is the claim that ethical
transgression is pervasive and therefore inevitable in social research. This is
based on the acknowledgement that researchers have to deceive or withhold
information from their participants to some extent. It would be impractical to tell
everyone every detail about the research design, for example. Furthermore, if
the researcher explained the hypotheses being tested or that most people of a
particular socio-economic background hold a particular point of view, for
example, while being more "honest" would also bias the response.
Page reference: 124 (Key concept 5.2)
Question 4
anonymous quite easily and, in any event, the identity of the respondent is not a
focus of study but in qualitative research this is not as easily done. Great care
must be taken with the handling of this data, particularly in the final published
reports, so that individuals cannot be identified from their comments or any
details about their backgrounds.
Page reference: 129
Question 6
Which method is most commonly associated with a lack of informed consent?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Covert observation
Feedback:
One of the most important ethical principles is that prospective participants
should be fully informed about the nature of the research, so that they can make
an informed decision about whether or not to take part. Covert observation is
often regarded as an ethically dubious method because this principle is
breached: the people being studied are not aware of the researcher's true
identity and so do not have the opportunity of refusing to participate.
Page reference: 133
Question 7
Why is it "easier said than done" to ensure that the principle of informed
consent is adhered to?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
Homan (1991:73, cited on page 133) suggests that it is "easier said than done"
to follow the principle of informed consent because of a number of factors. It
may not be practical and realistic to tell every participant in a large study all the
background information about it; the researcher sometimes wants to withhold
certain (minor) details about the procedure so that people will not be dissuaded
from taking part; and doing so helps to avoid reactive effects, in that
participants are less likely to make their behaviour conform to the researcher's
expectations.
Page reference: 133
Question 8
Apart from the fact that it is "not a nice thing to do", what is an important
ethical disadvantage of deceiving participants?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) It can damage the professional reputation of the researcher and their
discipline.
Feedback:
It is widely regarded as unacceptable to deceive participants about the nature of
the research and their involvement in it. This is mainly because it is unfair and
unkind to force people to participate in a project without their being aware that
they are being studied and giving informed consent. However, it can also be
very damaging for the researcher's professional reputation if they are known to
have indulged in such unethical practices, and this in turn can reflect negatively
upon their discipline as a whole. It is therefore each researcher's responsibility
to ensure that their research is as ethically sound as possible and to "leave the
field clean" for future researchers.
Page reference: 137
Question 9
Which of the following is an example of deception in business research?
Chapter 06
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
An operational definition is:
Question 2
The importance of measurement in quantitative research is that:
Question 3
The difference between measures and indicators is that:
a) Stability
b) Internal reliability
c) Inter-observer consistency
d) External validity
Question 5
Which of the following is not a form of measurement validity?
a) Concurrent validity
b) Face validity
c) Conductive validity
d) Convergent validity
Question 6
Quantitative social researchers rarely claim to have established causality
because:
Question 7
One of the preoccupations of quantitative researchers is with
generalization, which is a sign of:
a) External validity
b) Internal reliability
c) External reliability
d) Internal validity
Question 8
Quantitative research has been criticised because:
Question 9
Chapter 06
Results
Question 7
One of the preoccupations of quantitative researchers is with
generalization, which is a sign of:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) External validity
Feedback:
The issue here is with the application of the research findings to people
who were not part of the research focus. If we select our sample of
respondents randomly from the population as a whole, we can be quite
sure that the findings can be applied to the whole population. But if we
interviewed people casually, we could not generalize our findings beyond
the actual people interviewed. This is the essence of external validation of
research: how universally can the research findings be applied? It must be
said that even with random sampling, we have no right to apply our
findings to other populations, no matter how strong the temptation.
Page reference: 163, 164
Question 8
Quantitative research has been criticised because:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) the measurement process suggests a spurious and artificial sense of
accuracy
Feedback:
Some critics of quantitative research see it as pretending that a
photograph is a good representation of life, rather than being a 'frozen'
Chapter 07
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
c) a list of all the units in the population from which a sample will
be selected.
d) a wooden frame used to display tables of random numbers.
Question 2
A simple random sample is one in which:
a) from a random starting point, every nth unit from the sampling
frame is selected.
b) a non-probability strategy is used, making the results difficult
to generalize.
c) the researcher has a certain quota of respondents to fill for
various social groups.
d) every unit of the population has an equal chance of being
selected.
Question 3
It is helpful to use a multi-stage cluster sample when:
Question 4
The standard error is a statistical measure of:
Question 5
What effect does increasing the sample size have upon the sampling
error?
Question 6
Which of the following is not a type of non-probability sampling?
a) Snowball sampling
c) Quota sampling
d) Convenience sampling
Question 7
Snowball sampling can help the researcher to:
Question 8
Which of the following is not a characteristic of quota sampling?
Question 10
The term 'data processing error' refers to:
Chapter 07
Results
Feedback:
Once we know the size of the population to be researched, we can
determine the size of our sample. This latter number will depend a lot on
our resources of time and money. Then we make (or obtain, if one is
already available) a sampling frame, from which we select our future
respondents, typically using random number tables. This is to ensure that
each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected, so
there can be no bias in the selection, the result being referred to as a
'simple' random sample. If you answered (a) you were probably thinking
of a 'systematic' sample, a short-cut method of selecting directly from the
sampling frame but you must be careful to make sure the frame has not
already been ordered in a particular way for another purpose.
Page reference: 179, 180
Question 3
It is helpful to use a multi-stage cluster sample when:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) all of the above.
Feedback:
The primary reason for using a multi-stage cluster sample is geographic
dispersion of the population. This automatically involves considerably
extra time and money spent on travelling to conduct the interviews or
surveys. However, if you select a sample on a more local basis you will
not be able to extrapolate your results to the entire population. The
solution is to select regions at random, for example, in the first stage,
followed by cities, perhaps, as a second stage and local council areas as a
third stage. In other words, by using this 'multi-stage' approach, we select
'clusters' of the national population at random, which can produce
samples more easily studied.
Page reference: 181, 182
Question 4
The standard error is a statistical measure of:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) the extent to which a sample mean is likely to differ from the
population mean.
Feedback:
The standard error is that which can be calculated as the difference
between the population average and the sample average. Once the
sample has been selected randomly, we can determine the probable
difference between the sample and the population as a whole, as a range.
We usually express our results, therefore, with a high degree of
confidence (but not total) that our results apply to the entire population,
plus or minus a little. It sounds more tentative than we might like but it
cannot be more accurate than that. It should be pointed out that
stratification of a sample can reduce the standard error.
Page reference: 185, 186 (Tips and skills)
Question 5
What effect does increasing the sample size have upon the sampling
error?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) It reduces the sampling error.
Feedback:
Sampling theory (see fig 7.8 on p186) tells us that sampling error is
measured in terms of the 'standard error of the mean', which means,
Question 7
Snowball sampling can help the researcher to:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above
Feedback:
'Snowball' sampling is employed most often when it is completely
impossible to develop a sampling frame, as it was for Bryman's own
Disney project (see chapters 22 and 23 for the actual data and analysis).
"Research in focus 7.8" gives an example of producing a sample of small
and medium sized family businesses by asking a few respondents to
name others who might be interviewed, who in turn mention others and
so on. Although this sample-building technique is more likely to be used in
qualitative research for purposes of induction, it can be used to quantify
relationships among sample members, for example, within quantitative
research.
Page reference: 192, 193
Question 8
Which of the following is not a characteristic of quota sampling?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) The random selection of units makes it possible to calculate the
standard error
Feedback:
Since 'quota' sampling is a type of 'non-probability' sampling, random
selection cannot be one of its characteristics. It is somewhat less than
Chapter 08
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Why is it important for structured interviews to follow a standardized
procedure?
Question 3
Closed ended questions are those that:
Question 5
The acronym "CATI" stands for:
Question 6
Which of the following might you include in an introductory letter to
respondents?
Question 7
A filter question is one that:
Question 9
A show card is:
Chapter 08
Results
Like many other acronyms, "CATI" could represent many phrases. In the
context of structured interviewing in social research, CATI stands for
"computer-assisted telephone interviewing". Using this technique, the
interviewer uses a computer with a pre-loaded questionnaire when
making the call. Responses are then keyed in as appropriate, indicated by
the question's instructions and coding. This technique may save
considerable amounts of time later, if a computer programme such as
SPSS is used for data recording and analysis (see chapter 15), because
data can be entered directly while phoning. "CAPI", or "computer-assisted
personal interviewing", tries to bring the benefits of the computer to the
face-to-face interview setting. It seems easy to imagine extended use of
net-books as an aid to interviewing, in the future.
Page reference: 199
Question 6
Which of the following might you include in an introductory letter to
respondents?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
Before face-to-face interviewing, or telephone interviewing indeed, it is
recommended that an introductory letter be sent to respondents. This will
make the interview less of a 'cold-call' in general and may drive up the
response rate for phone interviews. Why should a prospective respondent
give you some of their valuable time, in any case? Many people are wary
of sales-pitches disguised as "research" and will welcome an introduction
explaining the nature of the research, your role, possible funders of the
research, likely applications of the research. All respondents have the
right to anonymity and confidentiality of personal data but it is seemly to
remind them of those rights.
Page reference: 211 (Tips and skills)
Question 7
A filter question is one that:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) helps the interviewer to avoid asking irrelevant questions by directing
them elsewhere on the schedule.
Feedback:
Generally speaking, filter questions are questions asked of some
respondents but not of all. Usually the filter works like a branch in a
decision tree, where we take one course of action if "yes" and another if
"no" is the answer. Since there are separate courses of action, we don't
need to follow both. If respondents say "yes" to a question, we can then
ask other questions which follow from that "yes" and avoid asking those
same, irrelevant, questions of those answering "no". Answer (a) indicates
required practice in a structured interview but filter questions are
designed to ensure that notevery question is asked of everyone.
Page reference: 214 (Tips and skills)
Question 8
Which of the following is not advised when planning the question order of
a structured interview?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) Expect some variation in the order in which questions are asked.
Feedback:
It is important to stick to the order of the questions as determined in the
interview schedule, for a number of reasons. One fairly obvious reason is
Chapter 09
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Which of the following statements is correct?
Question 2
One of the advantages of self-completion questionnaires over structured
interviews is that:
Question 3
Which of the following is not a disadvantage of self-completion
questionnaires compared to structured interviews?
Question 5
Why is it generally better to present fixed choice answers in vertical
rather than horizontal form?
Question 7
In order to identify response sets in a Likert scale, you could:
Question 8
Corti (1993) makes a distinction between two types of researcher-driven
diary:
Question 9
The 'time-use' diary can provide quantitative data about:
Chapter 09
Results
You have answered 0 out of 10 questions correctly.
Your percentage score is 0%.
Question 1
Which of the following steps can be taken to improve response rates to a selfcompletion questionnaire?
Why is it generally better to present fixed choice answers in vertical rather than
horizontal form?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) It makes the layout of the questionnaire more clear and unambiguous.
Feedback:
Naturally if you place the possible responses vertically they take up more lines on the
page, not less. "Tips and skills" on page 239 demonstrates this quite clearly. On the
other hand, setting out questions in this way may make the overall questionnaire
appear longer than it really is, which, apart from wasting paper (in a postal survey)
might discourage the respondent from completing the questionnaire. Closed-ended
questions should not seem to offer more than one answer and if the vertical layout is
used, this should be more obvious to the respondent.
Page reference: 238
Question 6
When using a Likert scale with a long list of items, it is usually better to:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) arrange the answers horizontally, in abbreviated form.
Feedback:
However, bearing the previous question's discussion in mind, when we present longer
lists of items (like attitude statements, perhaps), we should set out the range of
responses for each sub-element of the question horizontally. Following the rule of
making our questions as clear and as unambiguous as we can, we find that Likertscale questions work better when they are set out horizontally. Instructions must be
given for the provision of responses for these, as for other types of question and it
does not make a great deal of sense to have the questions section separated from the
answers section for self-completion questionnaires.
Page reference: 238, 239
Question 7
actually means "strong disagreement" and to code the questions accordingly, which
we call 'reverse scoring'. This means we must not do what answer (a) suggests and
"undesirable" social behaviours can be included as freely as those more "desirable".
Explicit instructions must be given to respondents to help them provide the data we
seek. We might use phrases like "there are no right or wrong answers, we are simply
looking for your opinion" but exhortations about moral behaviour are best left out.
Page reference: 240
Question 8
Chapter 10
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
An open question is one that:
Question 2
In order to post-code answers to open questions, it is necessary to:
a) count the frequency with which each answer has been given.
Question 3
Which of the following is not an advantage of using closed questions in a
survey?
Question 6
You should avoid using double-barrelled questions in a survey because:
Question 8
A vignette question is one that asks respondents to think about:
Question 9
The value of piloting a questionnaire is that it helps you to:
Question 10
A question bank is a useful resource for:
c) learning more about your topic so that you can devise leading
questions.
Chapter 10
Results
Correct answer:
b) categorise unstructured material and assign a code number to each
category.
Feedback:
Coding is an essential step in research, so that data can be grouped into
categories and the results compared, for example. Coding can be done in
advance for closed questions, often referred to as 'pre-coding'. 'Postcoding', in contrast, is coding done after the data has been gathered. The
frequency with which a particular answer is given is a straightforward
computation exercise and, in any event, can be catered for with precoding. However, the answers given to open questions can be quite
varied and individualistic, so the first task is to categorise them, according
to research themes and then assign a number to each category so that
quantitative analysis can be performed. This number is the code. When
more than one researcher is involved, it is a good practice to produce a
coding frame from which each researcher works.
Page reference: 249
Question 3
Which of the following is not an advantage of using closed questions in a
survey?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) They prevent respondents from giving spontaneous, unexpected
answers.
Feedback:
Closed questions are, indeed, quicker and easier for respondents to
complete, making this a real advantage for this type of question over
open-ended questions. If the questions have been pre-coded, the
responses are easier to process and analyse, making this another
reply. Questions should not be overlong, it is true, nor should they be too
abstract, but the problems with 'double-barrelled' questions are not those,
but with the creation of ambiguity and uncertainty on the part of the
respondent.
Page reference: 256
Question 7
Leading questions should also be avoided because:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) they suggest ways of answering and so may bias the results.
Feedback:
Answers (b), (c) and (d) indicate undesirable features of questions in
general but answer (c) relates to the problem with asking leading
questions. These are questions, which, unwittingly perhaps, steer a
respondent in a particular direction. It doesn't matter which response a
respondent gives to the question, if it can be labelled as leading all results
from it are suspect. Have a look at your answer to question nine, below. If
you got the right answer, you have realised the value of piloting your
questionnaire, since leading questions might be uncovered at that stage.
Perhaps the leading nature of the question will come as a surprise to you,
which will tend to perfect your entire design.
Page reference: 257, 258
Question 8
A vignette question is one that asks respondents to think about:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) a scenario involving imaginary characters in a realistic situation.
Feedback:
A vignette is like a piece of a story, where a family situation might be
depicted at a decision point. These are often referred to as 'scenarios',
which are fictitious but attempt to portray real decisions in the life of real
people. Most 'soap operas' are based around this technique, where we
wonder from week to week what the characters will decide and where real
fans are at least tempted to offer their advice. In an interview setting, the
respondent is shown one of these scenarios and asked for their opinion of
the best course of action to be recommended, from a fixed list of
possibilities. In this way, the vignette question can be seen as another
example of a closed question. Answers (a), (b) and possibly (c) in a
surrealistic way, may be seen as potential elements of a scenario but the
vignette question is representative of technique rather than content.
Page reference: 261, 262
Question 9
The value of piloting a questionnaire is that it helps you to:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) identify and amend any problems in the question wording, order and
format.
Feedback:
You must not test out your questions on people who will be in the final
sample because they will give biased answers later. Finding out what an
expert in the field would think of your questions tends to help with face
validity and is clearly a good idea, so if your research concerns air travel,
perhaps answer (c) might indicate a useful course of action. A pilot study
for a questionnaire, though, will help with bringing to light those questions
that are defective for a variety of reasons and with their sequencing and
even with the instructions to respondents and interviewers. Most
experienced researchers believe it to be an essential step in the research
process.
Page reference: 262, 263
Question 10
A question bank is a useful resource for:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) studying the way questions have been successfully used in previous
surveys.
Feedback:
Studying questions that have been asked in previous research helps to
understand the manner of phrasing questions for best effect. If you find
these questions in a research report, you may well find a discussion on
the reliability and validity testing that was carried out. Sometimes, you
may be able to ask the same questions to attempt a replication study,
although it is usually a good idea to contact the original researchers first.
Bryman reports on a question bank located at the University of Surrey
(p263), which gives access to questions from major surveys presented in
the context of the original questionnaire, replete with technical details.
Page reference: 263
Chapter 11
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Which of the following is a problem associated with survey research?
Question 2
The key advantage of structured observation over survey research is that:
Question 3
What is an observation schedule?
Question 4
Mintzberg conducted a study of what managers do in their day-to-day
work. This is an example of observing behaviour in terms of:
a) Individuals
b) Incidents
Question 5
It may not be possible to use a probability sample to observe behaviour in
public places because:
a) Focal sampling
b) Scan sampling
c) Emotional sampling
d) Behaviour sampling
Question 7
Cohen's kappa is a measure of:
a) inter-surveyor consistency.
b) intra-observer validity.
c) intra-coder validity.
d) inter-observer consistency.
Question 8
What is meant by the term "reactive effect"?
Chapter 11
Results
What people say they do and what they actually do may differ. Quite why
this should be the case is outside the scope of the current question.
Accepting the statement as at least having hypothetical value could
suggest that surveys will elicit the truth of what people feel they are
likely, or prone, to do but direct observation of their behaviour would be
required to see how close their survey statements are reflected by actual
behaviour. To gather quantitative data, observation needs to be
structured into a standardized format in order to have measurement
validity.
Page reference: 270
Question 3
What is an observation schedule?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) A set of explicit rules for assigning behaviour to categories.
Feedback:
An observation schedule is the back-bone of structured observation. It
specifies the categories of behaviour to be observed and how behaviour
should be allocated to those categories through a coding frame. Bryman
advises engaging in a bit of unstructured observation, when possible, to
get a general feel for the likely range of behaviours observable. Many of
the features and rules of structured interviewing can be seen to apply in
structured observation as well.
Page reference: 275
Question 4
Mintzberg conducted a study of what managers do in their day-to-day
work. This is an example of observing behaviour in terms of:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) Incidents
Feedback:
This study of the discrepancy between what managers do and what they
say they do has become quite famous and influential. In his study,
Mintzberg concentrated on "incidents" in managerial life, like making
telephone calls and attending meetings (see Research in focus 11.3,
p273). The study concentrated on what happened, with what frequency,
rather than on why those things happened. His work, therefore, is
quantitative. It demonstrates a method whereby we can record the way
people respond to particular events or incidents in a social setting. This
may only refer to one point in time but will still allow for comparisons to
be made because of high degrees of reliability.
Page reference: 276, 277
Question 5
It may not be possible to use a probability sample to observe behaviour in
public places because:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) it is not feasible to construct a sampling frame of interactions.
Feedback:
Quantitative research automatically brings probability sampling to mind. If
we have defined the population closely and located a sampling frame,
random sampling becomes feasible. The problem with observation,
however, is that it is focussed on the incident and as a result, we cannot
know what other kinds of interaction might have gone on and so whether
each episode was 'representative'. Nor is it possible to develop a
"snowball" sample, because we are limited to observation by itself.
However, just as other data-gathering tools use non-probability samples,
d) inter-observer consistency.
Feedback:
One of the problems encountered in structured observation concerns the
degree of inter-observer consistency. The point is that we need to feel
confident that separate observers do not see things so very differently
from each other as to use different codes for essentially the same
behaviour. Cohen's kappa is a statistical measure of the degree of
agreement between two people's coding of the same situation, over and
above what could have happened by chance. Naturally, the same
observer might code the same things a little differently over time,
so intra-observer consistency can also be a problem. These are problems
of reliability, not validity.
Page reference: 279, 280 (Key concept 11.7)
Question 8
What is meant by the term "reactive effect"?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) If people know they are being observed, they may change their
behaviour.
Feedback:
Bryman asks "Do people change their behaviour because they know they
are being observed?" (p280) If, or when, they do, we call this a "reactive
effect". The problem then becomes one of research participants behaving
other than they would in normal circumstances, rendering the data
invalid. Webb et al (1966) argued for greater use of unobtrusive measures
of observation to minimise the reactive effect. The effect may diminish
over time, however, as participants grow used to the presence of the
observer.
Page reference: 280, 281 (Key concept 11.8)
Question 9
What did Salancik mean by "field stimulations"?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) Researchers can intervene in and manipulate a setting to observe the
effects.
Feedback:
In a "field stimulation", participants do not know they are being studied,
so there is no reactive effect as discussed in the previous question. In this
type of observation study, the researcher directly intervenes in and/or
manipulates an element in the environment in order to observe changes
in participant behaviour. Salancik (1979) classified "field stimulations" as
a qualitative method but Bryman and Bell believe it works better as part
of a quantitative strategy because of the concentration on numbers of
instances of particular behaviours.
Page reference: 281
Question 10
One of the criticisms often levelled at structured observation is that:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) it does not allow us to understand the meanings behind behaviour.
Feedback:
Structured observation does impose a framework onto the social setting
being observed. The problem is that the framework may be inappropriate
or even irrelevant. Because of its focus on behaviour, it cannot easily
study intentions of human actions, in other words, the meanings behind
Chapter 12
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Quantitative content analysis is an approach that aims to:
a) Interview transcripts
b) Newspaper articles
c) Song lyrics
Question 3
Why did Harris look at newspapers from Australia, the UK, the USA, and
China for his study on courage?
Question 4
Which of the following is not an example of a 'unit of analysis'?
a) Validity
b) significant actors
c) Words
Question 5
Why might a researcher want to count the frequency of certain words or
phrases in a text?
Question 6
The purpose of a coding manual is to:
Question 7
The data from each row in a coding schedule can be entered into a
quantitative analysis computer program called:
a) Endnote
b) N-Vivo
c) Outlook
d) SPSS
Question 8
One of the potential pitfalls in devising a coding scheme is that:
Question 9
Which of the following is not an advantage of content analysis?
Question 10
If coders differed in their interpretations of the categories in the schedule,
this could negatively affect the data's:
a) Internal generalisability
b) Intra-interviewer reliability
c) Construct validity
d) Inter-coder reliability
Submit my answers
hapter 12
Results
Correct answer:
c) To identify particular interpretative frameworks
Feedback:
Business researchers have examined the way in which certain words like
'hierarchy' or 'foreign competition' have been used in academic articles as
part of a wider discourse that can generate ideas of 'rational organization
strategies' or 'environmental uncertainty'. Why are some words used
more than others? Why are some words used more often than others?
These can be deeply interesting questions concerning the reportage of
research and the creation of a 'mass-mood' or feeling towards events and
start by counting the individual words, no matter how boring that might
sound.
Page reference: 296, 297
Question 6
The purpose of a coding manual is to:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) provide researchers with instructions about how to code the data.
Feedback:
The coding manual is a set of instructions that helps coders decide how to
assign codes to the textual data. It includes a list of all the possible
categories and their corresponding code numbers. A good manual will
include all the dimensions of the coding process and give guidance to
coders to remove possible ambiguous inferences. We can understand how
important it is when we consider some of the things that might go wrong
in the coding process, like low inter-coder reliability, which would render
an elaborate study fairly useless.
Page reference: 300
Question 7
The data from each row in a coding schedule can be entered into a
quantitative analysis computer program called:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) SPSS
Feedback:
SPSS is a computer software package that aids quantitative analysis of
numerical data (see chapter 15). It can be used for analysis of data
generated by any quantitative strategy, with particular strengths for data
derived from probability samples. Assuming the texts examined in
content analysis to have been robustly sampled, then all of the numbers
generated can be input to SPSS for statistical analysis. This includes the
column headings in a coding schedule, the variables; with the rows
entered as individual record data. NVivo is a similar type of computer
programme for use with qualitative data (see chapter 23) but doesn't help
with this kind of data.
Page reference: 300
Question 8
One of the potential pitfalls in devising a coding scheme is that:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) the categories may not be mutually exclusive.
Feedback:
The dimensions must be entirely separated from each other, which means
no overlaps. Equally, the categories for each dimension must be mutually
exclusive and there should not be any 'gray' areas within dimensions
which could leave coders uncertain of how to code accurately. These
exhortations are not actually any different to instructions that could be
given for other forms of structured research methods, like interviewing
and observing.
Page reference: 300, 303
Question 9
Which of the following is not an advantage of content analysis?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) It allows us to observe otherwise inaccessible populations at first hand.
Feedback:
Content analysis is unobtrusive and tends not to suffer from the reactive
effect, because the newspapers are not written with any sense that they
might be subjected to this kind of analysis at some point in the future. It is
flexible and can be kind to researchers with low financial resources. The
time required can be considerable but the reward of high potential
reliability can offset this. A further advantage is that it may allow us to
gather information about social groups that are difficult to access, such as
elite sections of society or celebrities, partly because it does not depend
on direct observation or interviews with these people.
Page reference: 305
Question 10
If coders differed in their interpretations of the categories in the schedule,
this could negatively affect the data's:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) Inter-coder reliability
Feedback:
As with any other "method", there are disadvantages. The base
documents may be deficient because they are not representative,
because older documents might have been lost or destroyed, for
example, or they may have been distorted. Analysis of web pages could
suffer severely from this effect. Furthermore, it must be said that with the
best will in the world, "it is almost impossible to devise coding manuals
that do not entail some interpretation on the part of coders". Critics of this
method have pointed out that even when applying 'objective' schedules
of codes, researchers draw upon their everyday, common sense
knowledge to interpret the meaning of categories. This inconsistency can
pose a threat to the inter-coder reliability of the data.
Page reference: 308
Chapter 13
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
The term "secondary analysis" refers to the technique of:
Question 2
Why might secondary analysis be a particularly useful method for
students?
Question 3
Which of the following is not an advantage of secondary analysis?
Question 4
The large samples used in national surveys enable new researchers to:
Question 5
Which of the following is not a disadvantage of using secondary analysis?
Question 6
Question 7
What is one of the advantages that official statistics have over structured
interview data?
Question 8
Studying levels of labour disputes may provide unreliable and/or invalid
data because:
Question 9
What is the "ecological fallacy"?
Chapter 13
Results
Bell ask (p312) would it not make sense to analyse this data instead of
gathering new material. "Secondary analysis" is the term we give to this
kind of activity, "coming second" to the data that someone else gathered
first. The most important data for quantitative research strategies is, fairly
obviously, reported statistics. Secondary analysis does not involve going
over the same ground but, rather, developing new insights into the data
previously gathered.
Page reference: 312, 313 ((Key concept 13.1)
Question 2
Why might secondary analysis be a particularly useful method for
students?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) It saves time and money.
Feedback:
Since secondary analysis involves the use of data that have already been
collected by others, the researcher does not need to spend time and
money on data collection. This can make the method attractive to those
with limited resources, such as students. This does not imply that this is
the only method that can be used by students - far from it. It may be the
case that some students will see it as an "easy way out" of doing their
own research. Done properly, this requires a lot of time and statistical
knowledge. The point is that it may not be possible for students to
compile such an elaborate data-set as they may find in secondary
sources.
Page reference: 312, 313
Question 3
Which of the following is not an advantage of secondary analysis?
Chapter 14
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and then
press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
What is the difference between interval/ratio and ordinal variables?
a) The distance between categories is equal across the range of interval/ratio
data.
Question 2
What is the difference between a bar chart and a histogram?
a) A histogram does not show the entire range of scores in a distribution.
Question 3
What is an outlier?
a) A type of variable that cannot be quantified.
Question 4
What is the function of a contingency table, in the context of bivariate analysis?
a) It shows the results you would expect to find by chance.
d) It compares the results you might get from various statistical tests.
Question 5
If there were a perfect positive correlation between two interval/ratio variables,
the Pearson's r test would give a correlation coefficient of:
a) - 0.328
b) +1
c) +0.328
d) - 1
Question 6
What is the name of the test that is used to assess the relationship between two
ordinal variables?
a) Spearman's rho
b) Phi
c) Cramer's V
d) Chi Square
Question 7
When might it be appropriate to conduct a multivariate analysis test?
a) If the relationship between two variables might be spurious.
Question 8
What is meant by a "spurious" relationship between two variables?
a) One that is so ridiculously illogical it cannot possibly be true.
Question 9
A test of statistical significance indicates how confident the researcher is about:
a) the inter-coder reliability of their structured interview schedule.
Question 10
Setting the p level at 0.01 increases the chances of making a:
a) Type I error
b) Type II error
Submit my answers
Clear my answers
Chapter 14
Results
answers are of one of two types (male/female, for example). We call those
variables 'nominal', which we can, literally, only "name", like many types
of job occupation, for example. Finally, we refer to some variables as
'ordinal', which means we can only place the values in an order of first,
second, third and so on, without considering the gap between the first
and second, or whether it was the same as between second and third.
Apart from dichotomous variables, all others can be rank-ordered.
Page reference: 341
Question 2
What is the difference between a bar chart and a histogram?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) There are no gaps between the bars on a histogram.
Feedback:
Histograms are used to display interval/ratio variables, which involve a
continuous range of values, and so there are no gaps between the bars
that represent each category. Bar charts, on the other hand, display
nominal or ordinal data, which fall into discrete categories.
Page reference: 343, 344
Question 3
What is an outlier?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) An extreme value at either end of a distribution.
Feedback:
Chapter 15
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
What is the advantage of using SPSS over calculating statistics by hand?
Question 2
In SPSS, what is the "Data Viewer"?
Question 3
How is a variable name different from a variable label?
Question 4
What does the operation "Recode Into Different Variables" do to the data?
Question 5
How would you use the drop-down menus in SPSS to generate a
frequency table?
a) Open the Output Viewer and click: Save As; Pie Chart
Question 6
Why might you tell SPSS to represent the "slices" of a pie chart in
different patterns?
Question 8
In which sub-dialog box can the Chi Square test be found?
a) Frequencies: Percentages
b) Crosstabs: Statistics
c) Bivariate: Pearson
d) Gender: Female
Question 9
To generate a Spearman's rho test, which set of instructions should you
give SPSS?
Question 10
How would you print a bar chart that you have just produced in SPSS?
a) In Output Viewer, click File, Print, select the bar chart and click
OK
b) In Variable Viewer, open bar chart, click File, Print, OK
Chapter 15
Results
results. If you have a very small data set, though, using SPSS would be
akin to using a sledge-hammer to crack a nut.
Page reference: 360
Question 2
In SPSS, what is the "Data Viewer"?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) A spreadsheet into which data can be entered.
Feedback:
The Data Viewer is one of the two screens that comprise the Data Editor
in SPSS, the other being the Variable Viewer. The Data Viewer is a
spreadsheet grid into which you can enter your data for analysis. It is
actually the first screen you will see when you start up the programme
and you can go to work straightaway by entering the data you have
collected, questionnaire by questionnaire, interview by interview etc.
Page reference: 362
Question 3
How is a variable name different from a variable label?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) It is shorter and less detailed.
Feedback:
Clicking the tab on the bottom of the Data Editor screen will switch the
programme to the 'Variable View'. You are limited to eight characters for
the variable name, so there is a limit on how you can express the variable
for the purposes of SPSS calculations. However, you can enter a longer
and more meaningful name as a variable label. SPSS will use the label for
all printed output. An example within the Gym dataset would be reasons.
A variable label provides a more detailed description of what this means,
and serves as a memo to oneself: for example: reasons for visiting gym.
Page reference: 363, 364
Question 4
What does the operation "Recode Into Different Variables" do to the data?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) Replaces missing data with some random scores.
Feedback:
Recoding variables involves changing the way scores or values for a
particular variable are distributed across the range. For example, "age"
(an interval/ratio variable) can be re-categorized into five different "age
groups" (an ordinal variable). This creates a new variable (or variables)
and transforms the way in which a concept can be analyzed and
represented.
Page reference: 364-367
Question 5
How would you use the drop-down menus in SPSS to generate a
frequency table?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) Click on: Analyze; Descriptive Statistics; Frequencies
Feedback:
Following this set of steps will open the "Frequencies" dialog box, in which
you can select the variables you want to analyse and then click "OK". It is
worthwhile experimenting with the various drop-down menus to discover
what else SPSS can do for you. Probably the best course of action is to
'play' with the gym-set data until you feel you are comfortable with the
programme, then input your own data.
Page reference: 368
Question 6
Why might you tell SPSS to represent the "slices" of a pie chart in
different patterns?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) If you do not have a colour printer, it makes the differences between
slices clearer.
Feedback:
If you only have access to a monochrome printer, this can make it difficult
to see where the different coloured "slices" of a pie chart begin and end.
A practical solution is to represent groups of cases in terms of patterns
rather than colours. Even if you have access to a colour printer, it is
usually much more expensive to print in colour than in 'black and white'.
This might be the time to find out what facilities are available to you in
your institution and what how the printing budgets are calculated.
Page reference: 371
Question 7
When cross-tabulating two variables, it is conventional to:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
Question 9
To generate a Spearman's rho test, which set of instructions should you
give SPSS?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) Analyze; Correlate; Bivariate; select variables; Spearman; OK
Feedback:
Spearman's rho is a test of correlation, so we should expect to find the
SPSS function under 'Analyse' - 'Correlate'. Selecting 'Bivariate' opens up
the "Bivariate Correlations" dialog box and allows you to generate a
coefficient to show the strength of the relationship between variables you
selected. Plate 15.16 on page 377 shows the dialog box
featuring age, cardmins and weimins as the selected variables but if you
had recoded age as age-groups, you could then select Spearman to get the
rho coefficient appearing in Figure 15.3 instead of Pearson's r.
Page reference: 352, 357, 358
Question 10
How would you print a bar chart that you have just produced in SPSS?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) In Output Viewer, click File, Print, select the bar chart and click OK
Feedback:
This is a straightforward way of printing your bar chart as a piece of
"output" from SPSS. If you do not specify which things you want to print
from the output summary box on the left of the screen, SPSS will print all
of the graphs and tables in the Output Viewer. You can also locate a
printer 'icon' like you have seen in many other computer programmes,
which will open a 'Print dialog box'. SPSS will warn you that your output
has not been saved if you try to close the Output Editor. If that should
happen, save your output as a file (SPSS gives you many types to choose
from) and decide later on which material you want to print (and even
which programme to print from).
Page reference: 381
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Chapter 16
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and then
press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Which of the following is a method that is commonly used in qualitative
research?
a) Self-completion questionnaires
b) Surveys
c) Ethnography
d) Structured observation
Question 2
What is meant by the term "grounded theory"?
a) Theories should be tested by rigorous scientific experiments.
Question 3
A sensitizing concept is one that:
a) provides general guidance for more flexible research.
Question 4
Which of the following is not a component of Guba and Lincoln's criterion,
"trustworthiness"?
a) Transferability
b) Measurability
c) Dependability
d) Credibility
Question 5
Respondent validation is the process by which:
a) the validity of an interview schedule can be measured.
Question 6
Why do qualitative researchers like to give detailed descriptions of social
settings?
a) To provide a contextual understanding of social behaviour.
b) Because once they have left the field, it is difficult to remember what
happened.
c) So that they can compare their observations as a test of reliability.
Question 7
The flexibility and limited structure of qualitative research designs is an
advantage because:
a) the researcher does not impose any predetermined formats on the social
world.
b) it allows for unexpected results to emerge from the data.
c) the researcher can adapt their theories and methods as the project unfolds.
Question 8
Which of the following is not a criticism of qualitative research?
Question 9
Which of the following is not a contrast between quantitative and qualitative
research?
a) Distance vs. proximity of researcher to participants
Question 10
Why has qualitative research been seen to have an affinity with feminism?
a) It allows women's voices to be heard, rather than objectifying and exploiting
them.
Chapter 16
Results
Chapter 17
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and then
press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Which of the following is a component of ethnographic research?
a) Being immersed in a social group or setting.
Question 2
What is one of the main disadvantages of using the covert role in ethnography?
a) It can be hard to gain access to the social group.
c) The problem of reactivity: people may change their behaviour if they know
they are being observed.
d) It is usually too time consuming and expensive to be a realistic option.
Question 3
Which of the following will not help you to negotiate access to a closed/nonpublic setting?
a) Gaining the support of a "sponsor" within the organization.
Question 4
What is a gatekeeper?
a) A senior member of the organization who helps the ethnographer gain access
to relevant people/events.
b) A senior level member of the organisation who refuses to allow researchers
into it.
c) A participant who appears to be helpful but then blows the researcher's
cover.
d) Someone who cuts keys to help the ethnographer gain access to a building.
Question 5
What is the name of the role adopted by an ethnographer who joins in with the
group's activities but admits to being a researcher?
a) Complete participant
b) Participant-as-observer
c) Observer-as-participant
d) Complete observer
Question 6
Why is an ethnographic study unlikely to use a probability sample?
a) Because the aim of understanding is more important than that of
generalization.
b) Because the researcher cannot control who is willing to talk to them.
Question 7
What is meant by the term "theoretical saturation"?
a) Deciding on a theory and then testing it repeatedly.
Question 8
What is the difference between "scratch notes" and "full field notes"?
a) Scratch notes are just key words and phrases, rather than lengthy
descriptions.
b) Full field notes are quicker and easier to write than scratch notes.
c) Scratch notes are written at the end of the day rather than during key events.
d) Full field notes do not involve the researcher scratching their head while
thinking.
Question 9
Why does Stacey argue against the idea of a feminist ethnography?
a) Because it creates a non-exploitative relationship between the researcher
and the researched.
b) Because she fundamentally disagrees with all feminist principles.
d) Because she does not think that ethnography is a useful research method.
Question 10
What are the two main types of data that can be used in visual ethnography?
a) Positivist and interpretivist
Submit my answers
Clear my answers
Chapter 17
Results
Correct answer:
b) Participant-as-observer
Feedback:
These terms come from Gold's (1958) classification of participant
observation roles. These range from 'complete participant' (a covert role)
to 'complete observer' (an overt but unobtrusive role). The 'observer-asparticipant' role has the main emphasis on observation but is more
intrusive into the activities of the group. Finally, the 'participant-asobserver' is fully involved in the group's activities, but because they adopt
an overt role, the other members are aware that they are being studied.
Page reference: 437 (Figure 17.1)
Question 6
Why is an ethnographic study unlikely to use a probability sample?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
Ethnographic research tends to rely on convenience or snowball sampling,
because the ethnographer can only glean information from whoever is
prepared to talk to them. The shifting population of such groups also
makes it difficult to map out the sampling frame from which a probability
sample could be selected. However, as a qualitative research design, it is
generally seen as more important for this technique to lead to interpretive
understanding than to statistical generalisation.
Page reference: 441
Question 7
What is meant by the term "theoretical saturation"?
"scratch notes" and are designed to aid the production of "full field
notes", made later that day, which should be as detailed as possible.
Page reference: 447
Question 9
Why does Stacey argue against the idea of a feminist ethnography?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Because she thinks that the fieldwork relationship is inherently
unequal.
Feedback:
Stacey (1988) disagrees with Reinharz (1992), who had suggested that
feminist ethnography is an empowering way of documenting women's
lives. Stacey argues that like any other fieldworker, the feminist
ethnographer is in a position of inauthenticity and dissimilitude in relation
to their participants, and that they will ultimately betray these women by
imposing an academic interpretation on their lives. The debate centres
around the role of the researcher and the lives of the women participants,
highlighting the reporting role of the researcher based on their
interpretation of events and relationships. This can seem to place the
researcher "higher" than the women studied.
Page reference: 449-451
Question 10
What are the two main types of data that can be used in visual
ethnography?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) Extant and research-driven
Feedback:
Visual ethnography can be based on extant materials, which already exist
(such as people's private collections of photographs or newspaper
clippings) or research-drivenmaterials, which are either created by the
researcher or at the researcher's request (such as photographs taken for
the purpose of later analysis). Since it is possible to ask respondents to
discuss photographs in one-to-one interviews, this method is clearly not
restricted to ethnography. However, since the method is appropriate to
many kinds of ethnographic studies, the expression 'visual ethnography'
has been popularised.
Page reference: 452
Chapter 18
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Which of the following makes qualitative interviewing distinct from
structured interviewing?
Question 2
Which of the following is not a type of qualitative interview?
a) Unstructured interview
c) Structured interview
Question 3
Why is it helpful to prepare an interview guide before conducting semistructured interviews?
Question 4
a) Passive
b) Knowledgeable
c) Sensitive
d) Interpreting
Question 5
What is a "probing question"?
Question 6
What can you do to reduce the time consuming nature of transcribing
interviews?
Question 7
What is involved in "purposive sampling"?
Question 8
How does Oakley suggest that qualitative interviewing should be used as
an explicitly feminist research method?
Question 9
Which of the following is an advantage of qualitative interviewing relative
to participant observation?
Question 10
Chapter 18
Results
"Tips and skills", on page 445, shows the ten criteria proposed by Kvale
(1996) of a successful interviewer. The suggestion is that the successful
interviewer must be knowledgeable, clear, sensitive, gentle and open,
able to structure the interview, steer the conversation, remember what
has been said, and take an active role in both interpreting and critically
challenging the interviewee. Bryman and Bell add the criteria of getting
the balance of talking right, between interviewer and interviewee; and of
being sensitive to ethical concerns.
Page reference: 476 (Tips and skills)
Question 5
What is a "probing question"?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) One that encourages the interviewee to say more about a topic.
Feedback:
Obviously the researcher asks questions during an interview but of which
type? Some questions will ask directly for information about the
respondent's attitudes or opinions, with some of these being more specific
than others. It is often the case that 'follow-up' questions will lead to
uncovering richer data, of which the "probing" question is a good
example. The purpose is to find out more about a subject that the
interviewee has referred to. When people mention something that sounds
relevant but do not volunteer very much information, you can probe for
more details by asking questions like, "Could you say a little more about
that?", for example.
Page reference: 477
Question 6
What can you do to reduce the time consuming nature of transcribing
interviews?
Question 8
How does Oakley suggest that qualitative interviewing should be used as
an explicitly feminist research method?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) By creating a more equal relationship between interviewer and
interviewee.
Feedback:
In a highly influential article, Oakley (1981) criticized the "male-stream"
bias inherent in textbook guides to interviewing and said that it was
morally indefensible for women to treat other women like this. She
advocated a model of qualitative interviewing based on a non-hierarchical
relationship between conversational partners, where rapport and
reciprocity were of central importance.
Page reference: 493
Question 9
Which of the following is an advantage of qualitative interviewing relative
to participant observation?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) It allows you to find out about issues that are resistant to observation.
Feedback:
Qualitative interviewing can be a more appealing alternative to
participant observation for a number of reasons. These include the fact
that it is less intrusive, allows people to account for their actions in their
own words, and allows the researcher to discover ideas that might not
Chapter 19
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Question 2
How have focus groups been used in market research studies?
a) To distribute questionnaires.
Question 3
Why is it particularly difficult to get an accurate record and transcript of a
focus group session?
Question 4
When might it be useful to conduct a relatively large number of focus
groups?
Question 5
What is the role of the moderator in a focus group?
Question 6
What are "natural groups" in the context of focus group research?
Question 8
What are the two main forms of group interaction that Kitzinger identifies
in focus group sessions?
Question 9
Why have feminists argued that focus groups successfully avoid
"decontextualizing" their participants?
Question 5
What is the role of the moderator in a focus group?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) To stimulate discussion and keep the conversation on track.
Feedback:
The moderator or facilitator of a focus group generally takes a nondirective role in the proceedings, asking general questions that will
provoke a discussion and making sure that everyone has a chance to
speak. They will attempt to keep the conversation focused on the topic in
question and guide "rambling" participants back to the "track". It is true
that low structure is necessary to facilitate group discussion initiatives
and digressions are inevitable. However, it is also true that the moderator
must providesome structure so that the research questions may be
addressed within a reasonable time frame.
Page reference: 510, 511
Question 6
What are "natural groups" in the context of focus group research?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Groups of participants who already know each other.
Feedback:
A focus group can be composed of strangers selected from the target
population or "natural groups" of people who already know each other
from a particular social setting: these might be peer groups in a school,
work colleagues, members of a club and so on. "Natural groups" might be
selected because of the fact that they have already worked out ways of
interaction but, conversely, that might be the very reason they could
prove unsuitable for a particular research enquiry.
Page reference: 511
Question 7
What should the moderator say in their introductory remarks?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
It is always important to include an introductory preamble at the
beginning of a focus group session, in order to provide the participants
with all the information they need to contribute. You should take the
opportunity to explain why the research is being done, what you will do
with the data and discuss certain ethical issues, such as anonymity and
confidentiality. In this sense, a focus group is no different to any other
method used for qualitative data gathering. It is also important to talk
about the normal conventions of focus group participation, like one
person speaking at a time, that all viewpoints are important and the
expected duration of the meeting.
Page reference: 513
Question 8
What are the two main forms of group interaction that Kitzinger identifies
in focus group sessions?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) Complementary and argumentative
Feedback:
Kitzinger (1994) suggests that there are two main types of group
interaction that can be helpful in focus group research. 'Complementary'
interaction occurs when group members agree and build on each other's
remarks to develop a group viewpoint; 'argumentative' interaction occurs
when members challenge or criticise each other, which can force people
to reflect on and modify their viewpoints in a constructive way. If a group
is fairly passive, the moderator may try to stimulate discussion based on
one or other type of interaction.
Page reference: 513, 514
Question 9
Why have feminists argued that focus groups successfully avoid
"decontextualizing" their participants?
Chapter 19
Results
Correct answer:
c) To test new product and advertising concepts.
Feedback:
Groups will, and do, form in social contexts to work out individual and
group objectives. A focus group is an artificial construction of a group for
a specific research purpose. Group members could be those with 'expert'
knowledge of a topic and it might be interesting to hear their discussion.
However, in business research, the tendency is to try to understand what
'ordinary' people think. Thus, focus groups in market research studies are
typically made up of regular consumers of brands and the idea is to have
these people give their reactions to the introduction of new products or to
advertising concepts. A famous case mentioned by Bryman and Bell is
that of 'new coke'. Curiously, it seems that the findings from focus groups
were ignored by the Coca-Cola company, to its lasting embarrassment.
Page reference: 504, 505 (Thinking deeply 19.2)
Question 3
Why is it particularly difficult to get an accurate record and transcript of a
focus group session?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) Because there are so many different voices to follow.
Feedback:
When transcribing a focus group, it is important to have an accurate
record of not only what was said but also who said what. This can be
difficult if participants' speech overlap or they have similar sounding
voices. This means that a lot of extra care must be taken in preparation
for the focus group meeting, including the hardware required. It is unlikely
that a dictation machine for use in a one-to-one interview setting would
work as well for a focus group. In commercial settings, it is now quite
usual to use video cameras so that voices can be matched to faces, for
example. The main point is that if a proper record cannot be made, an
inadequate transcript will be the result.
Page reference: 505, 506
Question 4
When might it be useful to conduct a relatively large number of focus
groups?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
Although it is not the principal aim of the qualitative researcher to obtain
a representative sample, they should nevertheless be aware of any
"stratifying criteria" that might influence the results, such as the
participants' age, gender and social class. Recruiting a larger sample and
conducting more focus groups can be a good way of managing this,
especially when there are plenty of people willing to participate. We might
also remember, at this point, the concept of 'theoretical saturation' (Key
concept 17.12). Diminishing returns set in after a relatively small number
of focus group meetings.
Page reference: 507, 508
Question 5
What is the role of the moderator in a focus group?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) To stimulate discussion and keep the conversation on track.
Feedback:
The moderator or facilitator of a focus group generally takes a nondirective role in the proceedings, asking general questions that will
provoke a discussion and making sure that everyone has a chance to
speak. They will attempt to keep the conversation focused on the topic in
question and guide "rambling" participants back to the "track". It is true
that low structure is necessary to facilitate group discussion initiatives
and digressions are inevitable. However, it is also true that the moderator
must providesome structure so that the research questions may be
addressed within a reasonable time frame.
Page reference: 510, 511
Question 6
What are "natural groups" in the context of focus group research?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Groups of participants who already know each other.
Feedback:
A focus group can be composed of strangers selected from the target
population or "natural groups" of people who already know each other
from a particular social setting: these might be peer groups in a school,
work colleagues, members of a club and so on. "Natural groups" might be
selected because of the fact that they have already worked out ways of
interaction but, conversely, that might be the very reason they could
prove unsuitable for a particular research enquiry.
Page reference: 511
Question 7
What should the moderator say in their introductory remarks?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
It is always important to include an introductory preamble at the
beginning of a focus group session, in order to provide the participants
with all the information they need to contribute. You should take the
opportunity to explain why the research is being done, what you will do
with the data and discuss certain ethical issues, such as anonymity and
confidentiality. In this sense, a focus group is no different to any other
method used for qualitative data gathering. It is also important to talk
about the normal conventions of focus group participation, like one
person speaking at a time, that all viewpoints are important and the
expected duration of the meeting.
Page reference: 513
Question 8
What are the two main forms of group interaction that Kitzinger identifies
in focus group sessions?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) Complementary and argumentative
Feedback:
Kitzinger (1994) suggests that there are two main types of group
interaction that can be helpful in focus group research. 'Complementary'
interaction occurs when group members agree and build on each other's
remarks to develop a group viewpoint; 'argumentative' interaction occurs
when members challenge or criticise each other, which can force people
to reflect on and modify their viewpoints in a constructive way. If a group
is fairly passive, the moderator may try to stimulate discussion based on
Chapter 20
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Conversation Analysis (CA) and Discourse Analysis (DA) differ from other
qualitative research methods in that they treat language as:
Question 2
a) Talk is structured
Question 4
In a CA transcript, what does the symbol "(.)"?
a) An intake of breath
b) A prolonged sound
d) A slight pause
Question 5
What is meant by the term "adjacency pair" in CA?
Question 6
What have conversation analysts found that people generally do to
"repair" the damage caused by a "dispreferred response"?
Question 7
What do discourse analysts study?
Question 8
What is meant by the term "ethnographic particulars"?
Question 9
Potter and Wetherell use the term "interpretative repertoires" to refer to:
Chapter 20
Results
Feedback:
Interest in CA is often sparked by wondering why something is said in a
particular way, or why something might seem to be expressed in the
same way in particular circumstances. From this point on, the analysis of
conversation rests on a number of assumptions, listed by Heritage (1984).
The three basic assumptions of CA are that talk is structured by implicit
rules, that speech "acts" are shaped within their specific context and that
analysis is grounded in data. The researcher is, therefore, interested in
the talk itself and its context and allows conclusions to be drawn only
from the data, rather than from correspondence with a preset theory.
Since it is qualitative in nature, CA is not concerned with the
measurement or predictability of forms of talk in a quantitative way.
Page reference: 522
Question 4
In a CA transcript, what does the symbol "(.)"?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) A slight pause
Feedback:
A variety of notational symbols are used in CA to represent particular
sounds or manners of speaking. The symbol "(.)" indicates a very slight
pause, whereas "(0.8)" would suggest a longer pause of 0.8 seconds.
Emphasis is shown by italics and an intake of breath by ".hh". These
symbols are an integral part of the transcript, since it is the talk itself that
is in focus and talk consists of pauses between words as well as the actual
words used.
Page reference: 523
Question 5
Feedback:
Potter (1997) argues that discourse analysts prefer not to make reference
to "ethnographic particulars" in their analysis: this means that they focus
on the "here-and-now" aspects of a situated encounter rather than the
wider social context in which it occurs. However, Bryman and Bell)
suggest that discourse analysts are more likely to take external factors
into account than conversation analysts, perhaps partly because the
conversation can be understood in- and of-itself, whereas discourses in
general may need help in the form of location and time, for example.
Page reference: 526
Question 9
Potter and Wetherell use the term "interpretative repertoires" to refer to:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) the general resources people use to perform discursive acts.
Feedback:
The term "interpretative repertoires" coined by Potter and Wetherell
(1994) refers to the general resources (bodies of knowledge, linguistic
styles, patterns of speech and so on) that people can draw upon to
present certain versions of events. Ball and Wilson (2000) found
significant differences between departments of a bank and a building
society in the way that language was used to make sense of computerbased performance monitoring. The 'intrepretation' is made so that we
can determine the form of our discourse most likely to be acceptable in a
particular set of circumstances.
Page reference: 528 (Research in focus 20.7)
Question 10
Chapter 21
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
What are Scott's four criteria for assessing the quality of documents?
Question 2
Why does Bryman raise questions about biographies of Walt Disney?
Question 5
Which of the following is not an example of an official document?
Question 6
Which of the following can be studied as a documentary source from the
mass media?
Question 7
Why can it be difficult to establish the authenticity of virtual data?
Question 8
Why is it important to study the way audiences "read" cultural
documents?
Question 10
What is semiotics?
Chapter 21
Results
What are Scott's four criteria for assessing the quality of documents?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Authenticity, credibility, representativeness and meaning
Feedback:
Scott (1990) distinguishes between personal and official (private or state owned)
documents, but argues that they can all be evaluated using the four criteria of
'authenticity': "is the evidence genuine?"; 'credibility': "is the evidence free from
error?"; 'representativeness': "is the evidence typical?" and 'meaning': "is the evidence
clear and comprehensible?".
Page reference: 545
Question 2
'autobiographical' nature.
Page reference: 547
Question 3
Why might a collection of personal letters from the early twentieth century be low in
representativeness?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) Because they were preserved by a small number of powerful companies only.
Feedback:
The selective retention of letters, diaries and autobiographies from historical periods
throws doubt on what might have been discarded, or simply lost. Furthermore, only
very influential companies, like Unilever or Cadbury, have bothered to preserve older
documents.. Consequently, the documents available from the period in question are
not representative of the population as a whole, being written by a subset only. A
feminist perspective would notice the relatively low proportion of business letters
extant from that period written by women, since men were far more likely than
women to have letter-writing as an executive duty.
Page reference: 548
Question 4
Key concept 21.7 highlights the various roles of photographs in business research.
They may be used as illustrations, or prompts, or sources of data in themselves. In the
latter case, these visual images are interesting not only in terms of their manifest
content but also for what they reveal about the way people selectively retain and
represent the past. Although photographs can be made purely for research purposes,
the emphasis here is on extant photographs in archives and personal collections.
Again, the issue of representativeness is a problem.
Page reference: 554
Question 5
Which of the following can be studied as a documentary source from the mass media?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Newspaper articles about a particular issue or event.
Feedback:
The mass media provides a wide range of sources of documentary data, from
newspaper and magazine articles to films, television programmes, the music press,
and so on. All of these sources are available in the public domain. Answers (a), (b)
and (d) all point to documents that can be used in research but they are not examples
of mass media.
Page reference: 552
Question 7
Feedback:
There is some debate over the extent to which audiences respond actively or passively
to texts in the mass media, but it is generally accepted that people can make various
different interpretations of a cultural text. This is particularly significant insofar as
audience readings of a document may be quite different from those intended by its
creator. Some readers may accept the statements in the text as they are stated; others
may attempt to resist them or incorporate them into a separate interpretation. We are
reminded, here, of advice given to dissertation writers concerning the 'critical' reading
of texts for the purposes of a literature review.
Page reference: 558
Question 9
How does qualitative content analysis differ from quantitative content analysis?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) It is less rigid, as researchers are constantly revising their concepts.
Feedback:
Whereas quantitative content analysis usually involves counting the number of times a
particular word or theme appears in a text, qualitative analysis adheres more to the
principles of grounded theory: conceptual ideas emerge from the data, so that the
researcher is constantly involved in revising themes or categories emerging from the
document analysis. It can be argued that qualitative content analysis allows the
researcher to "discover" new ways of interpreting the text.
Page reference: 560
Question 10
What is semiotics?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
Chapter 22
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
In analytic induction, what happens if the researcher finds a deviant case?
Question 2
Which of the following is not a tool of grounded theory?
a) Theoretical sampling
b) Coding
c) External validity
d) Constant comparison
Question 3
What do Strauss and Corbin mean by "open coding"?
d) Telling everybody about the way you have coded the data.
Question 4
What is a "substantive theory" in Strauss and Corbin's view?
Question 5
What are memos?
Question 6
Why should you start coding your data as soon as possible?
Question 9
Why did Riessman (1993) have problems coding data using traditional
qualitative methods?
Question 10
What is one of the main ethical problems associated with conducting a
secondary analysis of qualitative data?
Chapter 22
Results
out on a range of data. If just one deviant case is found, the researcher
must either redefine the hypothesis so as to exclude the deviant case, or
reformulate the hypothesis and proceed with the data collection. It is,
therefore, "an extremely rigorous method of analysis".
Page reference: 574-576
Question 2
Which of the following is not a tool of grounded theory?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) External validity
Feedback:
The main tools of grounded theory are theoretical sampling, coding,
theoretical saturation and constant comparisons between concepts and
their indicators. Theoretical sampling is a process of gathering data from
people (or texts) who are thought more likely to have data relevant to the
general hypothesis and continuing until redundancy (theoretical
saturation) sets in. The objective is to establish a general theory
grounded in the empirical data, although, in practice, concepts are
generalized more often than theory. External validity is concerned with
the question of whether research results can be generalized to other
groups who were not the focus of the research and is closely associated
with quantitative research. Grounded theory attempts to develop a
'substantive' theory, which is then tested in settings other than that in
which it was generated, so the concept of external validity is not
relevant.
Page reference: 577
Question 3
What do Strauss and Corbin mean by "open coding"?
Question 5
What are memos?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
Memos can be used to assist the process of generating a grounded
theory. Researchers write these notes to themselves, to remind
themselves of any emerging ideas or concepts that they have observed
as they read through the data. This can help the researcher to forge
connections between categories of concepts, which in turn are used to
formulate a theory. Bryman and Bell give an example of a memo written
during a research study into the bus industry, in Research in focus 22.7.
As can be seen, it is quite detailed, so "memos" should not be confused
with "scratch notes".
Page reference: 581, 582
Question 6
Why should you start coding your data as soon as possible?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) To sharpen your focus and help with theoretical sampling.
Feedback:
Coding as you go along, and starting at a relatively early stage, can be
very helpful for those who want to build a grounded theory. This is
because it forces you to interpret your data and focus your ideas from the
start, which in turn helps you to choose an appropriate sample of
Chapter 23
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
What does the acronym "CAQDAS" stand for?
Question 2
How is CAQDAS different from quantitative data analysis software?
Question 3
Which of the following is not a criticism of the use of CAQDAS in social
research?
Question 4
Which of the following is not an advantage of using CAQDAS in social
research?
a) .jpg or .mpg
b) .pdf of .exe
c) .htm or .com
d) .doc or .rtf
Question 6
In which window can you read through, edit and code your documents?
a) Document Viewer
b) Node Explorer
c) Project Pad
d) Welcome Screen
Question 7
What are the two types of node used in NVivo?
Question 8
You code your data in NVivo by:
b) Intersection search
Question 10
Which is the correct sequence for creating a memo in NVivo?
Submit my answers
Clear my answers
Chapter 23
Results
Question 3
Which of the following is not a criticism of the use of CAQDAS in social
research?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) It is not very fast or efficient at retrieving sections of data.
Feedback:
Various criticisms have been levelled at CAQDAS, including the idea that it
has created a new orthodoxy of "code-and-retrieve" qualitative analysis,
that it fragments the data and that it is only useful for certain kinds of
qualitative data. However, most researchers would agree that CAQDAS
offers a faster and more efficient way of analyzing qualitative data than
the alternative, which means doing the work manually. The risk of
CAQDAS is that rich data can get lost in the computer and that we might
come to see computer-generated output as being more "significant"
somehow, than if we had performed all data processing ourselves.
Page reference: 594, 595
Question 4
Which of the following is not an advantage of using CAQDAS in social
research?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) It involves learning skills that are specific to each program.
Feedback:
There are numerous advantages to using CAQDAS, most of which centre
on its speed and efficiency and the way in which mapping out "coding
Question 8
You code your data in NVivo by:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) applying nodes to segments of text.
Feedback:
With your document open, you code your data by high-lighting a section
of text and copying it to a node. There are many ways of highlighting text,
like changing the font, or by using colour, which might be useful to you.
NVivo simply accepts at nodes what you place there. Similarly, there are a
variety of ways in which text selections can be inserted, including
"dragging and "dropping" or by using the tool bar's "copy and paste"
tools. Again, it doesn't matter to NVivo. It should follow from this that
coding is absolutely your decision and any subsequent problems are more
likely to stem from this fact, rather than from some defect in the
programme. Since there are few practical restrictions on how much data
can be coded, it is probably a good idea to code to a number of nodes at
once. Later, redundant nodes can be deleted (or changed) and text can
be "unselected", if that seems more desirable.
Page reference: 597-602
Question 9
Which of the following is a kind of search that can be carried out in NVivo?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) All of the above
Feedback:
There are three main types of search that you can conduct in NVivo. If you
want to see all data coded under a particular node (single node search),
select the node in question at the "navigation" window. You can also
search to find instances of text coded for two separate nodes, by using
the "queries" button, which opens a "Coding Query" dialog box (shown in
Plate 23.10, p606). Using the "Edit" button on the top tool bar, then
"Find", opens the "Find Content" dialog box, which helps you to search for
all instances of a particular word or phrase. This type of "string" search
may uncover "in vivo" codes (expressions used by research participants),
which can then be created as nodes in their own right.
Page reference: 603-606
Question 10
Which is the correct sequence for creating a memo in NVivo?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) Sources, Memos, New, Memo in this folder
Feedback:
It is not alone possible to create memos in NVivo, it is also desirable.
"Memos" were discussed in chapter 22 as useful aids to the analysis of
qualitative data. In NVivo, the sequence is as shown in answer (a),
starting at the central, "navigation" screen. It is not necessary to write the
memo first in another programme and then import it, since it can be done
directly. This is one of NVivo's strengths, in that it closely relates to the
gradual, unfolding way in which qualitative analysis is typically done.
Memos can be written during coding, or searching, for example, without
disturbing the data array. Because memos are grouped separately they
cannot be confused with other sources of data.
Page reference: 606-608
Chapter 24
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
The natural sciences have often been characterized as being positivist in
epistemological orientation. Which of the following has been proposed as
an alternative account?
a) Marxism
b) Subjectivism
c) Interpretivism
d) Realism
Question 2
How is it argued that qualitative research can have "empiricist
overtones"?
Question 3
Why might we say that quantitative researchers also try to study social
meanings?
Question 4
Why does Bryman argue that research methods can be seen as relatively
"free-floating" or autonomous?
Question 6
c) The use of a survey instrument that has not been tested for
inter-coder reliability.
d) The way scientists talk about their data in numerical terms to
enhance the credibility of their findings.
Question 7
Why is it argued that qualitative research may not really be "naturalistic"?
Question 8
What is "ethnostatistics"?
Question 10
How does quantification help the qualitative researcher avoid being
accused of anecdotalism?
Clear my answers
Chapter 24
Results
Feedback:
The distinction between quantitative and qualitative research has been
made in almost stereotypical ways, with contrasts between behaviour and
meaning, numbers and words, artificiality and naturalism, being
frequently cited. If we accept the "free-floating" nature of methods,
though, we could view those contrasts as battles between researchers
rather than as valuable differentiators of the method's focus. In the
commercial world, quantitative and qualitative research often goes handin-hand, with results from one type developing testable hypotheses for
the other. The over-riding question would seem to be "which type (if a
choice must be made) will yield the richest data in my particular
circumstances?"
Page reference: 619-622
Question 6
What does the term "quasi-quantification" refer to?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) The use of words like "many", "some" or "often" in qualitative research.
Feedback:
Quasi-quantification is just one of the ways in which the division between
characteristics of quantitative and qualitative research can be challenged.
This term refers to the way in which qualitative researchers may use
terms that imply numbers or quantities in their reports, for example in a
sentence that begins "Many of the respondents thought that...". Since
these expressions only make allusions to quantity, they are frustrating.
Either they should not be there at all, or an attempt should be made at
'proper' quantification to reinforce the qualitative argument.
Page reference: 624
Question 7
Chapter 25
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and
then press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
What is the name of one of the arguments that suggests that research
methods are inextricably linked to epistemological commitments?
a) Triangulation argument
b) Postmodern argument
d) Positivist argument
Question 2
Which version of the debate about multi-strategy research suggests that
quantitative and qualitative research are compatible?
a) Technical version
b) Methodological version
c) Epistemological version
d) Feminist version
Question 3
What is triangulation?
Question 5
How might quantitative research facilitate qualitative research?
a) symmetrical
b) statistical
c) processual
d) proverbial
Question 7
How might qualitative research help with the analysis of quantitative
data?
Question 8
How can multi-strategy research help us to study different aspects of a
phenomenon?
Question 10
Which of the following is not a feature of multi-strategy research?
Chapter 25
Results
Correct answer:
c) Embedded methods argument
Feedback:
There are two main arguments against multi-strategy research.
The embedded methods argument suggests that every research method is
tied to a particular epistemological position that is incompatible with
others. This argument has been answered in chapter 24 but is mentioned
here again to force an understanding of the difference between a tool and
its user. The other main argument against mixing quantitative and
qualitative methods in a single study is called the paradigm argument.
Paradigms are grand views of the world and of the methods available for
scientific enquiry. Different paradigms are distinct from each other
because of their divergent assumptions and methods. If quantitative and
qualitative research indicates two separate paradigms, then they could
never be mixed. However, it seems there are considerable areas of
overlap and commonality between them.
Page reference: 629
Question 2
Which version of the debate about multi-strategy research suggests that
quantitative and qualitative research are compatible?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) Technical version
Feedback:
There is an argument for using a mixed-methods approach, apart from
attempting to counter the arguments against. One of these is called the
"technical" argument. In essence, this is the argument which
distinguishes between data-gathering and (even) data-analysis
techniques, as being autonomous, on the one hand and the espoused
It has been argued that quantitative research tends to reveal the larger
scale, "macro" aspects of a phenomenon (such as patterns of crime or
levels of educational attainment in different social groups), whereas
qualitative research reveals the "micro" level processes of interaction that
go on in everyday life. It is therefore extremely useful to combine these
two levels of analysis and look at both aspects of a phenomenon, often
through a two-stage research project.
Page reference: 640, 641
Question 9
When might unplanned multi-stage research be described as a "salvage
operation"?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) When the second research strategy is used to explain unexpected or
puzzling results.
Feedback:
Sometimes a researcher intends to conduct only a quantitative study but
finds that the results they expected have failed to materialize, or to be as
convincing as they might have hoped. In these circumstances, they might
choose to use a second, qualitative method to find out why these results
have emerged, and so end up conducting a multi-strategy research
project after all. This might be more time consuming, but it saves the
researcher from having to either reformulate their "quantitative"
hypothesis and start again or abandon the research altogether.
Page reference: 643
Question 10
Which of the following is not a feature of multi-strategy research?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) It is inherently superior to mono-strategy research.
Feedback:
Multi-strategy research is becoming increasingly common in the social
sciences, but this does not mean that it is seen as an inherently superior
approach. Just like mono-method and mono-strategy research, multistrategy research can only be successful if it is well designed and
conducted by skilled researchers, and if the various research methods
chosen are appropriate to the research questions.
Page reference: 644
Chapter 26
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and then
press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
Which of the following is not a problem associated with using websites as
sources of data?
a) The sample of websites is only as good as the keywords used to search for
them.
b) It is difficult to find any websites about most topics in business research.
Question 2
What is distinctive about asynchronous online communication?
a) The interviewer and their respondents write at different times.
Question 3
What is a virtual ethnography?
a) The use of visual data rather than written texts for content analysis.
Question 4
Which of the following is a practical problem associated with asynchronous focus
groups?
c) Not all participants will have access to the required conferencing software.
Question 5
An advantage of conducting an interview online rather than face-to-face is that:
a) it saves time and money as no travelling is involved.
Question 6
Which of the following is not a disadvantage of conducting focus groups online?
a) Those who are fastest at typing may dominate the discussions.
Question 7
The two ways of distributing on-line surveys are:
a) Quantitatively and qualitatively
d) Face-to-face or by post
Question 8
What is the main advantage of an attached email questionnaire over an
embedded one?
a) It retains more of the original formatting and so tends to look more attractive.
b) It requires less expertise for the respondent to open and reply to it.
c) Recipients will be reassured that the message does not contain a virus.
Question 9
Why is it argued that samples recruited online are not representative of the
general population?
a) Because online researchers only use random probability sampling methods.
b) Because Internet users are most likely to be white, young and middle class.
c) Because women are less likely than men to volunteer for online social
research.
d) None of the above.
Question 10
What is the advantage of using Internet surveys to supplement traditional postal
questionnaires?
a) Postal questionnaires generally produce a higher response rate.
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Chapter 26
Results
Correct answer:
b) Moderators cannot be available online 24 hours a day.
Feedback:
Online focus groups can be conducted either synchronously or
asynchronously. In the former case, the researcher can use conferencing
software to help participants converse in real time, although this can be
problematic if some participants do not have access to the software. (A
possible modern remedy for this might be instant messaging services.)
Asynchronous focus groups can be conducted via an email distribution
list, allowing people more time to compose their responses. However, a
problem with this, is that the moderator cannot be available online
whenever someone is writing a message, and so it can be harder to keep
the discussion on track and check the content of messages before they
are posted.
Page reference: 656
Question 5
An advantage of conducting an interview online rather than face-to-face is
that:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) all of the above.
Feedback:
There are numerous advantages (as well as disadvantages) to conducting
an interview online rather than face-to-face. These include practical
factors such as the lower cost and greater convenience of conversing
electronically, the opportunity it gives respondents to compose careful
answers that say exactly what they want to say, and the elimination of
transcription error.
Page reference: 657, 658 (Tips and skills)
Question 6
Which of the following is not a disadvantage of conducting focus groups
online?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Normally shy participants may find it easier to "speak" in this setting.
Feedback:
Virtual focus groups have some advantages, such as making it easier for
shy or reticent people to participate in the relatively anonymous setting of
an online discussion. However, the method also has numerous
disadvantages that stem from this lack of face-to-face interaction: it is
more difficult to build rapport online and so the researcher may find it
harder to prevent people from dominating the discussions, ignoring
questions or dropping out of the study altogether.
Page reference: 658, 659 (Tips and skills)
Question 7
The two ways of distributing on-line surveys are:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) By email and via the World Wide Web
Feedback:
Computer-mediated communication provides some great opportunities for
distributing a social survey to a relatively large sample of respondents.
The researcher can either send their questionnaires out via email, provide
a web-link in an e-mail, or they can present the survey on a website,
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Chapter 27
Instructions
Choose your answer by clicking the radio button next to your choice and then
press 'Submit' to get your score.
Question 1
What is rhetoric?
Question 2
Which of the following is not usually found in a report of a quantitative study?
a) Measurement
b) Introduction
c) Confession
d) Results
Question 3
The introductory section of a research report should aim to:
a) identify the specific focus of the study.
Question 4
What is the purpose of the conclusion in a research report?
a) It explains how concepts were operationally defined and measured.
Question 5
In a report of quantitative research, an empiricist repertoire serves to:
a) confuse the reader with long and technical words.
Question 6
Which of the following is not normally included in a written account of qualitative
research?
a) An introduction, locating the research in its theoretical context.
Question 7
Postmodernist theorists challenge the idea of objective truth by arguing that:
a) there are many possible ways of interpreting and representing social reality.
c) only women have the unique standpoint needed to be able to make universal
truth claims.
d) all of the above.
Question 8
Apart from postmodernism, what other intellectual trend has stimulated an
interest in the way social scientists use rhetorical devices in their writing?
a) Positivism
c) Traditional ethnography
d) Existentialist philosophy
Question 9
A reflexive business researcher will be inclined to write about:
a) The effects that their values, biases and theoretical leanings might have had
upon the data collection and analysis.
b) The way in which their findings unfolded naturally and inevitably through
logical deduction.
c) The way in which their findings are objectively truthful and valid.
Question 10
The three forms of ethnographic writing that Van Maanen (1988) identifies are:
a) Positivist stories, interpretivist stories and realist stories
hapter 27
Results
You have answered 0 out of 10 questions correctly.
Your percentage score is 0%.
Question 1
What is rhetoric?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
d) The attempt to persuade or convince an audience, often through writing.
Feedback:
It is sometimes argued that writing about social science research is inevitably
rhetorical, as writers aim to persuade or convince readers of the legitimacy of their
knowledge claims. Key concept 27.1 points out that although writing is often
criticised negatively as being "mere rhetoric", rhetoric itself is an essential feature of
writing. We should try to avoid sweeping statements and common expressions like "as
everyone knows", for example, in order to concentrate the reader's attention on what it
is we actually claim for our research findings.
Page reference: 676
Question 2
Question 4
more localized truths that are only subjectively valid and therefore relative to the
social conditions of their production. The postmodernist perspective is that a research
report is a "reading" of a particular situation and is no more likely to be "right" than
any other possible "reading". Since the researcher is inextricably bound up with the
social world, they argue, there can be no such thing as "objective truth".
Page reference: 697, 698 (Key concept 27.4)
Question 8
Apart from postmodernism, what other intellectual trend has stimulated an interest in
the way social scientists use rhetorical devices in their writing?
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
b) Social studies of science
Feedback:
Atkinson and Coffey (1995) suggest that the recent trend towards critical reflection
upon ethnographic writing has been influenced not only by postmodernism but also by
social studies of science. This area of social theory focuses on the way in which
scientists produce their knowledge claims in a social context and then account for
them using rhetorical devices.
Page reference: 699
Question 9
The term "reflexivity" in this context refers to the ability to locate oneself in the
research process and be critically aware of the effects that one's values, biases and
expectations may have had upon the outcomes of the research. Because it has received
so much attention, particularly within postmodernist writings, it may seem to be
somehow superior to "unreflexive" stances. Johnson and Duberley (2003) differentiate
between methodological, deconstructive and epistemic reflexity in management
research.
Page reference: 700, 701 (Key concepts 27.6 and 27.8)
Question 10
The three forms of ethnographic writing that Van Maanen (1988) identifies are:
You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
c) Realist tales, confessional tales and impressionist tales
Feedback:
Van Maanen (1988) distinguished three major types of ethnographic writing. He
demonstrates that there have been some noticeable changes in the way in which
ethnographic writing has been presented over time. Whereas traditional
anthropological texts tended to provide "realist tales" about "other" groups and
cultures, with the researcher/author as person being rendered invisible, more recently
there has been a tendency to produce "confessional tales". These are highly reflexive,
self-critical accounts of how the research process unfolded in a fallible way and the
various problems that the researcher encountered in producing their ethnography.
Meanwhile, "impressionist tales" are those that place greater emphasis on words,
images and phrases that strike the researcher as important and provide an alternative
way of understanding another culture.
Page reference: 704 (Key concept 27.10)