Free Research Methods MCQs with Answers

• A. the contaminated group
• B. the control groups
• C. the experimental group
• D. the neutral standard

Explanation: The experimental group receives the change or treatment introduced by the researchers. The control group is used as the comparison and does not receive that experimental change.

• A. Herbert Spencer
• B. Emily Post
• C. Harriet Martineau
• D. Emile Durkheim

Explanation: Harriet Martineau wrote How to Observe Manners and Morals, an early work explaining systematic observation and comparison in the study of society. Durkheim later made major contributions to sociological methodology but did not write this book.

• A. Observation
• B. Recollection
• C. Addition to already experimented material
• D. None of these

Explanation: Observation is the starting point for identifying a social fact or problem that can then be investigated through questions, hypotheses and evidence. Recollection and adding to previous material are not standard first steps of the scientific method.

• A. laboratory experiments
• B. field experiment
• C. human aspect of the world
• D. None of these

Explanation: Social sciences apply scientific methods to the human and social aspects of the world, including behaviour, institutions and relationships. Laboratory and field experiments are particular methods, not the full subject matter of social science.

• A. an attempt to test a hypothesis under controlled conditions
• B. a piece of research conducted in a laboratory
• C. a piece of research trying out new methods
• D. an attempt to deceive participants about the research's true purpose

Explanation: An experiment tests a hypothesis by controlling relevant conditions and observing the effect of changing one or more variables. Laboratory research and trying new methods may occur in experiments but do not define every experiment.

• A. being as precise as possible in defining an initial hypothesis
• B. holding some variables constant to look at the effects of others
• C. supervising the data collection process as closely as possible
• D. seeking to manipulate the outcomes of a research processGet Study Guides

Explanation: Research controls involve keeping certain variables constant so that the effect of the variable under investigation can be assessed more clearly. Control does not mean manipulating the results or merely supervising data collection.

• A. sample
• B. respondents
• C. focus group
• D. population

Explanation: The population is the complete group targeted by a survey, whereas a sample is the smaller group actually selected to provide data. Respondents are the individuals who answer the questionnaire.

• A. causation
• B. correlation
• C. association
• D. connection

Explanation: Correlation, association, and connection describe relationships or links between variables without necessarily proving cause and effect. Causation is different because it claims that one factor produces a change in another.

• A. it takes place outside the university campus
• B. it makes use of covert research methods
• C. it investigates workings of society that are different from official accounts
• D. the investigator is sympathetic to the activities that he is investigating

Explanation: Humphreys’s Tearoom Trade examined a hidden form of social interaction that differed from conventional or official accounts of public behaviour. Although it also used covert observation, the option about revealing the actual workings of society best explains its sociological significance.

• A. research that tries to contribute to the development of theory
• B. research that is always multidisciplinary
• C. research that aims to intervene in and improve social life
• D. research based on government priorities

Explanation: Applied social research is conducted to address practical social problems and improve social conditions, rather than mainly to expand theory. Government-priority research can be applied, but government funding or priorities are not essential to the definition.