Research Methodology in Sociology Questions and Answers

Answer: C

The sequence is formulation of the problem, hypothesis, data collection, analysis of data.

A study begins with a defined problem. A hypothesis is then framed to answer it, data are collected to test the hypothesis, and the data are analysed.

Options (A) and (B) place data collection before the hypothesis, and (D) starts with the hypothesis before the problem has been formulated, so all three break the logical order.

Answer: D

After data collection: editing the filled-in tool, coding, tabulation.

Raw data are first checked and corrected, which is editing. Responses are then converted to codes so that they can be counted, and the coded data are put into tables, which is tabulation.

Report writing is the last stage, after analysis. Options (A), (B) and (C) place it before tabulation, or put coding before editing, which breaks the order of data processing.

Answer: B

The coefficient of correlation indicates the relationship between two quantitative variables.

Pearson's coefficient r measures the degree and direction of a linear relationship between two variables that are measured numerically, such as height and weight.

Qualitative variables are examined with measures of association such as the chi-square or the coefficient of contingency. Mixing a qualitative with a quantitative variable also does not suit r, and so 'all the above' is wrong.

Answer: D

The item not regarded as a feature of scientific method is common-sense observation.

Scientific method requires reliability (consistent results), validity (measuring what is intended) and replicability (others can repeat the study and test the result).

Common-sense observation is unsystematic and unchecked, and it is taken as the thing scientific method is meant to replace. That makes D the exception.

Answer: B

The purpose of a survey is extensive coverage of a population.

A survey collects data from a large number of cases, usually through questionnaires or interviews and often from a sample, so as to describe the spread of characteristics, opinions and behaviour across a population.

In-depth study of social phenomena is the strength of case studies and ethnography. Testing a theory and establishing causal links are the usual aim of experiments, although surveys can contribute, so breadth of coverage is the main purpose.

Answer: A

Descriptive design is associated with the analysis of demographic trends.

A descriptive design sets out to describe the features of a group or phenomenon accurately, and a study of trends in age, sex, births or deaths is the standard case.

Impact assessment of a development intervention is evaluative, and causal explanation of violence against women is explanatory. A cross-cultural study is comparative. These are not mainly descriptive, so A is the answer.

Answer: B

A hypothesis is a prerequisite in an experimental study.

An experiment tests a stated expectation about the effect of one variable on another, so it needs a hypothesis before it begins.

Biographical, interpretative and critical research are qualitative or interpretive approaches, which more often explore meanings and build ideas out of the data than begin from a hypothesis to be tested.

Answer: D

The sampling method suited to a population about which nothing is known is snowball sampling.

In snowball sampling each person found leads to others, so the sample grows through referrals. It is used for hidden or hard-to-find populations where there is no list to draw from.

Purposive and quota sampling need prior knowledge of the population to choose cases or set the quotas. Convenience sampling takes whoever is at hand, and it is not designed for a population one knows nothing about.

Answer: B

Participant observation is ideally suited to the study of (a) tribal culture and (c) ethnographic study.

Participant observation means living among the people studied and sharing in their activities, the main method of anthropology and ethnography, and it fits the study of tribal communities.

National culture (b) and the phenomenon of globalisation (d) are too large and dispersed to be observed by taking part in daily life in one place, so the pairs that include them are wrong.

Answer: C

The assertion is true but the reason is false, so the answer is C.

Qualitative methods are often criticised on reliability because the procedures are flexible and depend on the researcher's judgement, so another researcher may not get the same results (A is true).

R claims the procedures are precise and accurate, which is the opposite of the criticism, so R is false. B and A would need R to be true, and D would make A false.