Free Research Methods MCQs with Answers

103 Research Methods MCQs from Sociology, each with the correct answer and a written explanation of why it is correct. Free and unlimited, with no account needed.

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103 questions · page 3 of 6

  • A. they are often undertaken by specialist agencies
  • B. they offer an appearance of precision
  • C. the data is easy to quantify and analyses
  • D. large numbers of people can be studiedTry Science Kits

Explanation: An appearance of precision can be a weakness of surveys because numerical results may conceal measurement errors or oversimplify social…

Correct answer: they offer an appearance of precision
  • A. reading a textual document quickly to understand the gist of it
  • B. gathering a sample from whoever you can see in a public place
  • C. scanning a table to identify general patterns and significant figures
  • D. keeping your eyes on research participants at all times

Explanation: In research, eyeballing means scanning a table or dataset to notice broad patterns, unusual results, and potentially important figures.

Correct answer: scanning a table to identify general patterns and significant figures
  • A. is a sincere and accurate account free from political bias
  • B. is representative of all the similar documents that did not survive
  • C. has both a literal and an interpretable meaning
  • D. is a sound original, or reliable copy of known authorship

Explanation: For Scott, authenticity concerns whether a document is genuine, such as a sound original or a reliable copy whose authorship is known.

Correct answer: is a sound original, or reliable copy of known authorship
  • A. it uncovers rich detailed accounts from an insider's perspective
  • B. it is conducted over a period of several years
  • C. the findings are amenable to statistical analysis
  • D. it compares findings from a number of different cases

Explanation: Ethnography relies on close observation and participation to produce rich, detailed descriptions from the standpoint of people in the…

Correct answer: it uncovers rich detailed accounts from an insider's perspective
  • A. fixed-choice questions s
  • B. short questions s
  • C. leading questions
  • D. funneled questions s

Explanation: Leading questions suggest or pressure respondents toward a particular answer, creating response bias.

Correct answer: leading questions
  • A. exploration
  • B. explanation
  • C. description
  • D. triangulation

Explanation: Description, exploration, and explanation are standard purposes of sociological research.

Correct answer: triangulation
  • A. make all research notes available for public scrutiny
  • B. preserve the confidentiality of their subjects
  • C. protect their subjects from personal harm
  • D. acknowledge research collaboration and assistance

Explanation: Ethical research protects confidentiality, prevents personal harm, and acknowledges assistance or collaboration.

Correct answer: make all research notes available for public scrutiny
  • A. an experiment
  • B. a survey
  • C. content analysis
  • D. participant observation research

Explanation: William Foote Whyte’s Street Corner Society involved extended immersion and observation within an Italian-American neighbourhood, making…

Correct answer: participant observation research
  • A. administers a naira to every fifth woman who enters a business office
  • B. examines the attitudes of residents of a city by interviewing every twentieth name in the city,s telephone book
  • C. studies the attitudes of Democratic voters by choosing every tenth name found on a city,s list of registered Democrats
  • D. None of the aboveHire Grant Writers

Explanation: Choosing every fifth or twentieth person is systematic sampling, not simple random sampling, because the selection follows a fixed…

Correct answer: None of the aboveHire Grant Writers
  • A. collect data
  • B. define the problem
  • C. review previous research
  • D. formulate a hypothesis

Explanation: A research project begins by defining the problem or research question, which sets the focus for the later literature review, hypothesis…

Correct answer: define the problem
  • A. Personal studies
  • B. Observational studies
  • C. Participant-observer studies
  • D. None of these

Explanation: A participant-observer study involves the researcher taking part in the social situation while observing it.

Correct answer: Participant-observer studies
  • A. None of these
  • B. Are arranged knowingly
  • C. both a and b
  • D. the things that happen by themselves

Explanation: Observational studies record events as they occur naturally rather than arranging conditions as in an experiment.

Correct answer: the things that happen by themselves
  • A. brought into laboratory
  • B. Kept in their homes and observed
  • C. are not told about experiment
  • D. None of these

Explanation: A laboratory experiment moves participants into a controlled setting so the investigator can regulate conditions and observe responses.

Correct answer: brought into laboratory
  • A. Scientific research
  • B. Scientific method
  • C. Science unity
  • D. None of theseManagement Sciences Mcqs

Explanation: Pearson’s statement highlights that different sciences can study different subjects but share systematic procedures for producing…

Correct answer: Scientific method
  • A. they are often undertaken by specialist agencies
  • B. large numbers of people can be studied
  • C. the data is easy to quantify and analyses
  • D. they offer an appearance of precision

Explanation: Surveys can cover large samples and produce data that are readily quantified, but their numerical precision may only be an appearance…

Correct answer: they offer an appearance of precision
  • A. the influence of specific variables can be controlled by the investigator
  • B. it can only be used to study relatively small groups or communities
  • C. it is essential when a study is primarily historical or has a historical dimension
  • D. it usually generates richer and more in-depth information than other methods

Explanation: Ethnography uses prolonged, close engagement with people in their everyday settings, which usually produces richer and more detailed…

Correct answer: it usually generates richer and more in-depth information than other methods
  • A. spurious correlation
  • B. causal mechanism
  • C. multiple regression
  • D. multinomial distribution

Explanation: A spurious correlation occurs when two variables appear related but their association is actually produced by a third factor.

Correct answer: spurious correlation
  • A. the investigator being committed to a particular ideology
  • B. the research team prejudging the meaning of the data
  • C. the data being unbalanced by the design or execution of the research
  • D. interpretations being applied to the results

Explanation: Research bias is a systematic distortion introduced through the design or conduct of a study, causing the data or findings to be…

Correct answer: the data being unbalanced by the design or execution of the research
  • A. philosophical and progressive
  • B. complex and against commonsense
  • C. experimental and statistical
  • D. valid and reliable

Explanation: Scientific knowledge must be valid, meaning it measures or explains what it claims to, and reliable, meaning it produces consistent…

Correct answer: valid and reliable