Research Methods and Statistics in Psychology
Student Resources
Chapter 12: Classical Qualitative Methods
1. A hermeneutic approach to qualitative research involves which of the following? [TY12.1]
- Use of advanced statistical principles.
- Use of basic statistical principles similar to those that underpin distribution-free tests.
- Attending to the meaning of particular phenomena for those who experience them.
- A process of self-discovery in which the researcher reflects on his or her own role in the research process.
- Spending a lot of time in isolation, quarantined from the outside world.
Answer: C
2. Which of the following procedures would not be included in a programme of qualitative research? [TY12.2]
- Assessment of effect size.
- Development of appropriate research questions.
- Clarification of the logic linking the data to research propositions.
- Explanation of criteria for data interpretation.
- Identification of key propositions.
Answer: A
3. Which of the following is not achieved through repertory grid analysis? [TY12.3]
- A formal representation of a person’s understanding of aspects of their world.
- A representation of reality from a given person’s vantage point.
- A structured map of an individual’s subjective reality in relation to a phenomenon of interest to a researcher.
- A grid that identifies perceived similarities and differences between elements that contribute to an individual’s psychological experience of reality.
- A factor analytic solution.
Answer: E
4. A team of researchers wants to use content analysis to examine the behaviour of people in a crowd. Specifically, the researchers want to examine whether the number of times a person displays anger or frustration depends on the number of other people that are in close proximity. Which of the following statements is false? [TY12.4]
- The researchers would want to specify their sampling domain in advance.
- The researchers might want to use multiple coders to ensure that coding is reliable.
- The researchers might want to assess the level of inter-rater reliability in categorizing particular displays of emotion as anger or frustration.
- The researchers would seek to clarify the nature of the coding categories ‘anger’ and ‘frustration’ after they have collected their data.
- The researchers may want to perform statistical analysis on the data they obtain.
Answer: D
5. Which of the following is not required for thematic analysis? [TY12.5]
- A data set.
- A data item.
- A data corpus.
- A data management strategy.
- Different coding categories for data extracts obtained from male and female participants.
Answer: E
6. Consider the following two reports of a soccer match (from Dey, 1993):
A: Wimbledon 0 Liverpool 0
B: ‘There was more excitement in the car park than on the pitch’ Which of the following statements is true? [TY12.6]
- Report A is quantitative, Report B is qualitative.
- Both reports are qualitative.
- Both reports are quantitative (although one measures the score and the other measures excitement).
- Neither report could be used in psychological research.
- None of the above.
Answer: A
7. What is inter-rater reliability? [TY12.7]
- A measure of the agreement between people coding a given set of qualitative data.
- A strategy for ensuring that people who code data are honest.
- A measure of the degree to which the personal constructs of researchers have affected their coding.
- A measure of the degree to which raters are reliable over time.
- The outcome of a process in which reflexive journals are inspected to ensure that researchers have taken account of the subjective meaning of phenomena for participants.
Answer: A
8. Which of the following statements is true? [TY12.8]
- It is generally better for a researcher to use one method to collect and analyse data as this avoids confusion.
- Researchers who use different methods to examine the same issue are more likely to misrepresent features of the phenomena they are investigating.
- Good researchers do not have methodological preferences as they are aware that these encourage disagreement and conflict.
- Qualitative methods are interesting, but they have not had much impact on psychology.
- None of the above.
Answer: E
9. Which of the following is not usually a step in thematic analysis?
- Data familiarization.
- Code generation.
- Search for themes.
- Review of themes.
- None of the above (i.e., all are steps in thematic analysis).
Answer: E
10. Which of the following statements is true?
- Thematic analysis must be conducted in a top-down process, in which researchers come to the data with a particular theory in mind, and then use that theory as a way of organizing information contained within the data
- Thematic analysis must be conducted in a bottom-up process where researchers come to a topic with a relatively open mind and lets themes ‘emerge’ from the data.
- Thematic analysis can be conducted at the same time in both a top-down process and a bottom-up process.
- Thematic analysis can be conducted in both a top-down process and a bottom-up process but these processes must be kept spearate.
- None of the above.
Answer: E
11. “The process of turning research data (e.g. recorded interviews) into an accessible written form.” What research practice is this a glossary definition of?
- Translation.
- Transcription.
- Ethnography.
- Accessibility.
- Reflexivity.
Answer: B
12. “Research practice that acknowledges the role that participants play in research and that seeks to involve them in as much of the research process as possible.” Which research principle is this a glossary definition of?
- Experiential approach.
- Democratic forum.
- User involvment.
- Participant involvement.
- Participant-led research.
Answer: D
13. “A way of accounting for scientific endeavour and progress that draws attention to the role played by subjective, human factors beyond the realm of the empirical phenomena under investigation.” Which construct is this a glossary definition of?
- Contingent repertoire.
- Empricist repertoire.
- Non-empricist repertoire.
- Subjectivist psychology.
- Holistic psychology.
Answer: A
14. “A qualitative research tool in which participants introspectively comment on a particular topic and their responses are coded using pre-established guidelines. The most common of these is the ‘thinking-aloud’ technique used to gain insight into participants’ cognitive processes while performing particular tasks (e.g. playing chess or map reading).” Which construct is this a glossary definition of?
- Semi-structured interviewing.
- Reflexive interviewing.
- Open-ended interviewing.
- Cogntive protocols.
- Verbal protocols.
Answer: E
15. “A philosophy that suggests that features of the world exist in an objective form that makes them amenable to measurement and definitive characterization.” What philosophical orientation is this a glossary definition of?
- Postivism.
- Idealism.
- Relativism.
- Realism.
- Contextualism.
Answer: D