Research Methodology in Public Administration Questions and Answers

Answer: B

The definition is attributed to Bogardus.

Emory S. Bogardus defined a questionnaire as a list of questions sent to a number of persons for them to answer, and the definition is widely quoted in Indian research methodology texts. It stresses that a questionnaire is a standard set of questions answered by the respondents themselves, as distinct from a schedule filled in by an interviewer.

P.V. Young, Johan Galtung and others wrote on research methods and on the questionnaire and schedule, but this particular definition is the one credited to Bogardus.

Answer: C

The outcome of an interview may be faulty because of subjective interpretation.

In an interview the interviewer asks questions, probes and records answers, and often interprets what the respondent means. The interviewer's own views, expectations and biases can colour this, and the respondent may also react to the interviewer. Such subjectivity is the main source of error in interview data.

Flexibility is an advantage of the interview, allowing questions to be explained and answers probed, and easy administration is not a source of faulty results. Lack of anonymity can make respondents guarded on sensitive topics, but the key takes subjective interpretation as the principal weakness of the method.

Answer: B

The correct matching is a-2, b-4, c-3, d-1.

• Exploratory research investigates a subject about which little or no knowledge is available (2).
• Descriptive research describes events or the characteristics of a subject (4).
• Explanatory research seeks the causes of a problem (3).
• Diagnostic research establishes what the problem is and which factors or actors contribute to it (1).

Only the second code gives (2), (4), (3), (1). The first code reverses exploration and description, and the others mix up explanation with diagnosis.

Answer: B

The software that is not for plagiarism detection is SPSS.

SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, now IBM SPSS Statistics) is a program for statistical analysis of data, widely used in social research for tabulation, tests of significance, correlation and regression. It does not compare texts for copying.

Copyscape checks web content for copies elsewhere on the internet, and PlagScan compares documents against databases for plagiarism. 'Authenticate' appears in the paper as another such checker. Among the options, only SPSS has a different purpose.

Answer: B

The first was Auguste Comte.

Auguste Comte, the French philosopher who coined the word 'sociology', founded positivism in his Course of Positive Philosophy (1830-42). He held that the study of society should use the scientific methods of observation, experiment and comparison used in the natural sciences, and that human thought passes through theological and metaphysical stages to a positive, scientific stage.

Chester Barnard wrote on executive functions in organisations; Goode and Hatt (printed 'Hatte') wrote Methods in Social Research (1952) and C. A. Moser Survey Methods in Social Investigation, both long after Comte.

Answer: A

The statement is J.W. Best's.

John W. Best, in Research in Education, describes research as a more systematic activity directed toward the discovery and development of an organised body of knowledge. The definition is widely quoted in research methodology texts.

C. A. Moser wrote on survey methods in social investigation, L. V. Redman (with A. V. H. Mory) defined research as a systematised effort to gain new knowledge, and E. S. Bogardus is known for the social distance scale. The quoted definition is Best's.

Answer: C

The one that is not a research method is the interview.

A research method is an overall approach to studying a problem: the historical method studies past records, the comparative method compares cases, and the empirical method relies on observation and experience.

An interview is a technique or tool of data collection, used within many methods, like the questionnaire or observation schedule. Research methodology texts distinguish methods from such techniques, which is why the interview is the odd one out.

Answer: C

It is experimental research.

In experimental research the investigator deliberately manipulates one or more independent variables and controls other variables, often using control and experimental groups, to observe the effect on a dependent variable. Control of variables is what allows a cause-and-effect conclusion.

Pure research aims at knowledge for its own sake, whatever its method. Quantitative research measures and analyses numerical data but need not control variables; surveys are quantitative without being experimental. Evaluation research judges the effectiveness of a programme.

Answer: B

A systematic literature review is a replicable, scientific and transparent process.

A systematic review follows an explicit protocol: it states its research question, its search strategy and sources, and its criteria for including and excluding studies, and it assesses the quality of the studies it includes. Because every step is recorded, another researcher could repeat it and reach the same body of evidence. That is what makes it replicable, scientific and transparent, as distinct from a traditional narrative review.

The order of searching (library, databases, internet), equal attention to principal contributors, and time management do not define a systematic review.

Answer: C

A hypothesis is an assumed relationship between variables.

A hypothesis is a tentative statement, framed before the research, of a relationship between two or more variables, for example that higher training leads to better performance. It is stated so that it can be tested against data and either supported or rejected.

It is not a value judgement or an opinion, since it must be testable by evidence, and it is not an established fact, since it has yet to be tested; a hypothesis that survives repeated testing may become part of a theory.