Qualitative Research Methods
Exam Review
Course Introduction
Qualitative Research Methods introduces students to the principles, strategies, and techniques used to systematically explore complex social and behavioral phenomena. Emphasizing interpretive approaches, the course covers key methodologies such as ethnography, case study, grounded theory, and phenomenology. Students will learn how to design qualitative research projects, conduct interviews and observations, analyze textual and visual data, and evaluate the quality and ethics of qualitative research. By completing this course, students will gain practical skills in collecting and interpreting qualitative data, as well as an understanding of when and how to apply these methods to address a variety of research questions.
Recommended Textbook
Making Sense of the Social World Methods of Investigation 4th Edition by Daniel F. Chambliss
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12 Chapters
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Chapter 1: Science, Society, and Social Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Write a brief explanation of the concept of validity and its three dimensions. To illustrate your explanations, describe what they would refer to in a hypothetical study of drug abuse in U.S. suburbs.
Answer: Validity-the state that exists when statements or conclusions about empirical reality are correct; Measurement validity-exists when an indicator measures what we think it measures; Generalizability-exists when a conclusion holds true for the population, group, setting, or event that we say it does, given the conditions that we specify; Causal validity-exists when a conclusion that A leads to, or results in, B is correct
Q2) Findings from a recent study indicated that education was an important predictor of television viewing. What is the purpose of this research?
A) Descriptive
B) Exploratory
C) Explanatory
D) Evaluation
E) Selective
Answer: C
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Chapter 2: The Process and Problems of Social Research
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Q1) Research that collects data at more than one point in time is called:
A) Longitudinal
B) Cross-sectional
C) Ideographic
D) Nomothetic
E) Inductive
Answer: A
Q2) In a panel design, data are collected from the same individuals at multiple points in time.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q3) The groups that reviews research proposals for possible ethical violations are known as:
A) University Ethics Offices
B) Offices of Research and Sponsored Programs
C) Institutional Review Boards
D) Committees on Human Subjects Review
E) Social Research Ethics Boards
Answer: C
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Chapter 3: Ethics in Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) In the process of debriefing, the researcher:
A) Explains to the subject what happened in the study and why
B) Tries to make sure the participants are competent to give consent
C) Discloses her or his identity partially
D) Obtains research approval from the IRB
E) Publishes the results of the study
Answer: A
Q2) The act of publication is not a necessary element in maintaining openness and honesty in ethical research.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q3) The American Sociological Association has adopted ethical guidelines that are more lenient than federal standards.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
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Page 5
Chapter 4: Conceptualization and Measurement
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Sample Questions
Q1) Which of the following would not be analyzed using content analysis?
A) Romance novels
B) Interview transcripts
C) Science fiction films
D) Women's magazines
E) Newspaper articles
Q2) Samples of individuals who use social media such as Facebook are representative of the whole population.
A)True
B)False
Q3) Using more than one measure of the same variable, such as using a survey and direct observation, is known as:
A) Validation
B) Reliability
C) Conceptualization
D) Triangulation
E) Operationalization
Q4) What are the advantages and disadvantages of using existing data sources for research? What is the GSS and why is it so useful for social research?
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Chapter 5: Sampling and Generalizability
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Q1) To conduct a survey on current political science majors, a researcher gets a list of all students who have declared a political science major from the registrar from which a sample will be drawn. This list is known as what?
A) A sample
B) A population
C) A target population
D) An aggregation
E) A sampling frame
Q2) How does diversity within the population affect the sampling technique chosen in social research? Does this differ for probability and non-probability sampling? Explain at least three specific techniques that can be used to address high levels of diversity within a population.
Q3) When all elements in a population are identical:
A) Generalizability based on a sample is low
B) Sampling is unnecessary
C) Non-probability samples have greater generalizability
D) A census must be taken
E) Large samples are more representative than small samples
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Chapter 6: Causation and Experimental Design
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Q1) To say that variables have an association is to say that:
A) The relationship between them is genuine
B) They occur at the same point in time
C) They empirically vary together
D) The relationship between them is false
E) One is caused by the other
Q2) Compare randomization and random sampling. What are their similarities and differences? In what way does each help to improve the validity of research conclusions? Why does the use of one of these techniques preclude the use of the other?
Q3) Is it possible to determine whether a treatment led to a change in the value of cases on the dependent variable in an experiment in which there was no pretest? Explain your answer.
Q4) It is never ethical to deceive subjects about an experiment.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In what situations is it ethnical to deceive participants in an experiment? Provide an example that would ethically allow deception and an example in which the ethics of deception are more ambiguous.
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Chapter 7: Survey Research
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Sample Questions
Q1) Questionnaire design
Group A
1. interview schedule
2. cognitive interview
3. interpretive questions
4. context effects
Group B
a. A set of questions used for an in-person or phone survey
b. Follow-up questions to see how a question was interpreted by respondents
c. Questions added to a survey to help interpret respondents' answers
d. Questions used for a self-administered survey
e. The influence of question order on how questions are answered
Q2) What guideline does the following question violate in terms of guidelines for writing questions: Do you disagree that there should not be an exam on Chapter 6?
A) Avoid double negatives
B) Avoid double-barreled questions
C) Minimize risk of biased words
D) Avoid making disagreement or agreement disagreeable
E) Minimize fence sitting and floating
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Page 9
Chapter 8: Elementary Quantitative Data Analysis
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Sample Questions
Q1) Outliers may render a range useless for determining the distribution of a variable.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The process of checking data carefully for errors is known as:
A) Data reduction
B) Data cleaning
C) Data dredging
D) Data definition
E) Data analysis
Q3) When a researcher has a distribution in which two nonadjacent categories have about the same number of cases, this is referred to as a:
A) Mean
B) Bimodal
C) Binomial
D) Unimodal
E) Frequency
Q4) A normal distribution is generally bell-shaped.
A)True
B)False
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Chapter 9: Qualitative Methods: Observing, Participating, Listening
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Sample Questions
Q1) What are the roles available to a field researcher?
Q2) Which of the following is true regarding field notes?
A) They should be written with 24 hours of leaving the field.
B) They should include details of the researcher's interpretation of events.
C) They should contain methodological information.
D) They should distinguish between direct quotations and paraphrases.
E) All of the above
Q3) Identity disclosure is of greatest ethical concern for which type of qualitative researcher?
A) Participant observers
B) Gatekeepers
C) Key informants
D) Covert participants
E) Complete observers
Q4) Unlike participant observation, intensive interviewing does not require:
A) Rapport between researcher and respondent
B) The researcher to enter the field
C) The researcher to keep the respondent's identity confidential
D) Any sort of planning in advance
E) Knowledge of qualitative methods
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Chapter 10: Qualitative Data Analysis
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Q1) Qualitative and quantitative methods should always be kept separate.
A)True
B)False
Q2) In qualitative analysis, the first analytic step is:
A) Documentation
B) Conceptualization
C) Coding
D) Categorizing
E) Authenticating
Q3) The goal of grounded theory is to:
A) develop theory inductively
B) Use ethnographic data from two or more sources
C) Identify common themes among actors in a single setting
D) Authenticate conclusions derived from one setting in another setting
E) Reduce the artificiality created by the presence of a researcher
Q4) A researcher should always be reflexive and know his or her own biases before entering the field.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Describe grounded theory. How does it compare to deductive research?
Page 12
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Chapter 11: Unobtrusive Measures
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Sample Questions
Q1) Name some of the steps listed in the chapter that can be taken when ethical standards can't be met.
Q2) Which of the following is a typical reason why a program cannot be evaluated?
A) Management only wants its superior performance confirmed
B) Staff doesn't trust management to check on their performance
C) Personnel have no clear sense of what the program is trying to achieve
D) Program is not clearly distinct from other services provided by the agency
E) All of the above
Q3) Quasi-experimental designs are the preferred method for proving that a program created (or caused) a desired effect.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In what circumstances should qualitative methods be used in evaluation research? In what circumstances should quantitative methods be used? Use examples to demonstrate your answer.
Q5) The direct product that a program delivers is the outcome.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Why is evaluation research more political than other forms of social research?
Page 13
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Chapter 12: Evaluation Research
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Q1) Melbin "Night as Frontier" study (1978) used field experiments to test their hypotheses.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Surveys have limited use for understanding context and mechanism.
A)True
B)False
Q3) How does an applied research report differ from a journal article? Explain the differences, while describing the content of report sections that differ between these two types of writing.
Q4) How does your audience affect the way that you will write up a research report?
Q5) In what section of a research report should you address weaknesses in your own research design?
A) Introductory statement
B) Methodology section
C) Findings section
D) Discussion section
E) Conclusion section
Q6) Outline the sections of a research report. Explain the purpose of each section.
Q7) What is the difference between an abstract and a conclusion in terms of content?
Page 14
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