The nature and process of social research
Why is data analysis concerned with data reduction?
Because far too much data is collected than is required
Because we need to make sense of the data
An emergency source of finance
Because the sample size has been exceeded
Because we need to make sense of the data
When we look at all the data gathered, we then need to group similar bits of qualitative data into categories and themes, and quantitative data into tables and averages, so that we can see it more clearly. Literally, we make sense of the data in a process called ‘data reduction’. Answer (c) is incorrect, because the repetition of responses across the sample might prove to be, itself, very interesting. Most research suffers from having too little data, rather than too much, at least of the desired kind. Finally, exceeding the sample size can never be bad if the additional cases satisfy the selection criteria (see chapter 8).
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 11
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 11
Because we need to make sense of the data When we look at all the data gathered, we then need to group similar bits of qualitative data into categories and themes, and quantitative data into tables and averages, so that we can see it more clearly. Literally, we make sense of the data in a process called ‘data reduction’. Answer (c) is incorrect, because the repetition of responses across the sample might prove to be, itself, very interesting. Most research suffers from having too little data, rather than too much, at least of the desired kind. Finally, exceeding the sample size can never be bad if the additional cases satisfy the selection criteria (see chapter 8).
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 11
Reference: Bryman: Social Research Methods: 5th Edition Page(s) 11
Related posts
The core ingredients of a dissertation are:A. Introduction; Data collection; Data analysis; Conclusions and recommendations.
B. Executive summary; Literature review; Data gathered; Conclusions; Bibliography.
C. An emergency source of finance
D. Introduction; Literature review; Research methods; Results; Discussion; Conclusion.
What does ‘sampling cases’ mean?
A. Sampling using a sampling frame
B. Identifying people who are suitable for research
C. An emergency source of finance
D. Sampling people, newspapers, television programmes etc.
Because of the number of things that can go wrong in research there is a need for:
A. Flexibility and perseverance
B. Sympathetic supervisors
C. An emergency source of finance
D. Wisdom to know the right time to quit
Which of the following is not a type of research question?
A. Predicting an outcome
B. Evaluating a phenomenon
C. An emergency source of finance
D. A hypothesis
Which comes first, theory or research?
A. Theory, because otherwise you are working in the dark
B. Research, because that’s the only way you can develop a theory
C. An emergency source of finance
D. The question is meaningless, because you can’t have one without the other
When planning to do social research, it is better to:
A. Approach the topic with an open mind
B. Do a pilot study before getting stuck into it
C. An emergency source of finance
D. Forget about theory because this is a very practical undertaking
Which of the following is not a data-collection method?
A. Research questions
B. Unstructured interviewing
C. An emergency source of finance
D. Participant observation
Leave a Reply