Research Methodology

    The nature of qualitative research
    The flexibility and limited structure of qualitative research designs is an advantage because:
    A fixed research frame may influence the data gathered. Although almost all research professionals subscribe to this notion, quantitative researchers tend to isolate the elements of the design that may bias the results and measure the probable impact. Qualitative researchers, by contrast, prefer “keeping structure to a minimum” (Bryman, p397), so that the data is free to express itself, as it is. This certainly means that qualitative research enquiries must, of their very nature, be much more open, much vaguer than many would like. However, the flexibility of this approach also allows them to incorporate unexpected events into the research design and adapt their theories as the research progresses.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 397
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Language in qualitative research
    Which of the following is not one of the basic assumptions of CA?
    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, cited on page 527). 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.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 526-527
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Asking questions
    A vignette question is one that asks respondents to think about:
    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 (d) in a surrealistic way, may be seen as potential elements of a scenario, but the vignette question is representative of technique rather than content.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 259,260
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS)
    98.Data view and variable view are type of:
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Interviewing in qualitative research
    Which of the following is not one of Kvale’s ten criteria of the good interviewer?
    “Tips and skills”, on page 473, 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 (p473) adds the criteria of getting the balance right between the talking time of interviewer and interviewee; and of being sensitive to ethical concerns.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 473
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    The nature of quantitative research
    One of the preoccupations of quantitative researchers is with generalization, which is a sign of:
    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.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 163, 164
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Interviewing in qualitative research
    Which of the following makes qualitative interviewing distinct from structured interviewing?
    In qualitative interviews, the aim is to understand the social world from the perspective of the interviewee, in their own words. The researcher will therefore encourage their participants to define the parameters of the conversation and to talk in detail, rather than imposing a standardized set of questions upon them. The essential point is that structured interviewing is a quantitative research method, so numbers of instances of pre-planned, specific items are the focus, whereas qualitative research is focussed on the respondent. Where the respondent goes, so to speak, the researcher follows. So, going off the topic is good, in that the interview is now moving in the direction of the respondent’s interests rather than the researcher’s.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 466-467
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Computer-assisted qualitative data analysis: using NVivo
    What are the two types of node used in NVivo?
    Key concept 25.1 (p606) explains “nodes” as “collections of references” about aspects of your research data. In other words, nodes are like files in which you have inserted all references about a particular aspect of your research. NVivo has two types, called “hierarchical” nodes and “non-hierarchical” nodes. “Hierarchical” nodes are created by default, since they are for organizing your concepts in a hierarchy. By creating hierarchies of concepts you gradually start building towards a grounded theory. The “non-hierarchical” nodes are for what you regard as “free-standing” concepts – those that don’t seem to relate to other concepts directly.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 606,607
    Author: rikazzz Comment
    Statistical Packages for Social Science (SPSS)
    Data can be entered in the _________ spreadsheet:
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    Self-administered questionnaires
    Which of the following is not a disadvantage of self-completion questionnaires compared to structured interviews?
    Here we are dealing with the limitations of the self-completion questionnaire. It is true that ‘eliminating’ the interviewer eliminates interviewer bias but it is also true that no follow-up questions can be asked. It is equally true that respondents are very likely to read through the whole questionnaire before answering the first question (although web-based questionnaires can reduce this effect), which might tend to produce other responses than might have been given spontaneously. Partly because of this pre-reading, respondents may not answer all the questions, causing a coding problem later. However, far from being a disadvantage, researchers are encouraged to set closed-ended questions in this type of questionnaire because open-ended questions may cause problems of interpretation as well as proving too tedious to complete.
    Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 223,224
    Author: rikazzz Comment