Chapter 27 Mixed Methods Quant & Qual Verified Test Bank

Chapter 27 - Mixed methods research: combining quantitative and qualitative research

Test Bank

Type: multiple response question

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 01

01) What are the two main arguments against the use of mixed methods research? Please select all that apply.

a. That it’s too much work

b. That research methods carry epistemological commitments

c. That quantitative and qualitative are separate paradigms

d. That researchers rarely have both skills

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 02

02) The term “mixed methods” stands for research that integrates qualitative and quantitative research within a single project.

a. True

b. False

Type: multiple response question

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 03

03) Which of the following are versions of the debate about the nature of qualitative and quantitative research? Please select all that apply.

1. An epistemological version, as in the embedded methods argument and the paradigm argument, sees quantitative and qualitative research as grounded in incompatible epistemological principles (and onto- logical ones too, but these tend not to be given as much attention). According to this version of their nature, mixed methods research is not possible.

2. A technical version, which is the position taken by most researchers whose work is mentioned in the next section, gives greater prominence to the strengths of the data collection and data analysis techniques with which quantitative and qualitative research are each associated and sees these as capable of being fused. There is a recognition that quantitative and qualitative research are each connected with distinctive epistemological and ontological assumptions, but the connections are not viewed as fixed and ineluctable. Research methods are perceived, unlike in the epistemological version of the debate, as autonomous. A research method from one research strategy is viewed as capable of being pressed into the service of another. Indeed, in some instances, as will be seen in the next section, the notion that there is a ‘leading’ research strategy in a mixed methods investigation may not even apply in some cases.

a. A philosophical version

b. A psychological version

c. A technical or practical version

d. A sociological version

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 04

04) Mixed methods research is rare in business research and is very difficult to publish.

a. True

b. False

Type: multiple choice question

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 05

05) Which of the following has not been a focus for writers concerned with mixed methods research?

1. The priority and order through which quantitative research and qualitative research were carried out.

2. The different types of mixed methods design.

3. The purpose(s) of doing mixed methods research. This section will be structured in terms of a classification Bryman developed many years ago of the different ways in which mixed methods research has been undertaken (Bryman 1988a, 1992). The classification has been changed slightly from the one presented in his earlier publications.

a. The priority and order through quantitative and qualitative research were carried out

b. Which method offers the superior insight into the nature of reality

c. The different types of mixed methods design

d. The purpose of doing mixed methods research

Type: multiple response question

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 06

06) What are the two key decisions facing those engaged in mixed methods research? Please select all that apply.

 The priority decision. How far is a qualitative or a quantitative method the principal data-gathering tool, or do they have equal weight?

 The sequence decision. Which method precedes which? In other words, does the qualitative method precede the quantitative one or vice versa, or is the data collection associated with each method concurrent?

a. The priority decision

b. The software decision

c. The epistemological decision

d. The sequence decision

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 07

07) The convergent parallel design gives more priority to quantitative than qualitative research in the design of a project.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 08

08) The exploratory sequential design entails the collection of qualitative data prior to the collection of quantitative data.

a. True

b. False

The Explanatory Sequential Design entails the collection and analysis of quantitative data followed by the collection and analysis of qualitative data in order to elaborate or explain the quantitative findings.

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 09

09) The explanatory sequential design entails the collection and analysis of qualitative data followed by quantitative data to substantiate the findings.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 10

10) The embedded design can have either quantitative or qualitative as the priority approach but draws on the other approach as well in the context of the study.

a. True

b. False

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 11

11) Triangulation implies that the results of an investigation employing a method associated with one research strategy are cross-checked against the results of using a method associated with the other research strategy.

a. True

b. False

Type: multiple response question

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 12

12) How can qualitative research facilitate quantitative research? Please select all that apply.

 Providing hypotheses. Because of its tendency towards an unstructured, open-ended approach to data collection, qualitative research is often very helpful as a source of hypotheses or hunches that can be subsequently tested using a quantitative research strategy…

 Aiding measurement. The in-depth knowledge of social contexts acquired through qualitative research can be used to inform the design of survey questions for structured interviewing and self-completion questionnaires.

a. Provides hypothesis

b. Aids measurement

c. Confirms theories

d. Tests hypothesis

Type: true-false

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 13

13) Quantitative research brings out a static picture of social life while qualitative is more processual

a. True

b. False

Type: multiple response question

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 14

14) Which two factors have led to a rise in the use of mixed methods research? Please select all that apply.

1. a growing preparedness to think of research methods as techniques of data collection or analysis that are not as encumbered by epistemological and ontological baggage as is sometimes supposed; and

2. a softening in the attitude towards quantitative research among feminist researchers, who had previously been highly resistant to its use (see Chapter 17 for a discussion of this point).

a. To consider research methods as techniques not rigidly determined by ontological and epistemological baggage

b. A requirement by journals for different types of evidence to be presented

c. A softening of the attitudes of feminist researchers toward quantitative methods

d. More methodological eclecticism within business schools more generally

Type: multiple response question

Title: Chapter 27 - Question 15

15) What are indicators of quality in mixed methods research? Please select all that apply.

1. Mixed methods research, like mono-method research, must be competently designed and conducted. Poorly conducted research will yield suspect findings, no matter how many methods are employed.

2. Just like mono-method or mono-strategy research, mixed methods research must be appropriate to the research questions or research area with which you are concerned. There is no point collecting more data sim- ply on the basis that ‘more is better’. Mixed methods research has to be dovetailed to research questions, just as all research methods must be. It is, after all, likely to consume considerably more time and financial resources than research relying on just one method.

3. It is best to be explicit about why you have conducted mixed methods research. Providing a rationale for its use gives the reader a better sense of the relationship between the research questions and the research methods and also what the use of two or more methods was meant to achieve in terms of the overall project.

4. Try not to think of mixed methods research as made up of separate components. It is best to consider how the quantitative and qualitative components are related to each other from the outset. There is a feeling among many writers with an interest in such research that many so-called mixed methods projects are not really mixed at all, because the researchers do not adequately integrate their quantitative and qualitative findings. This is particularly evident when researchers present and discuss their quantitative and qualitative findings separately rather than bringing the evidence together. We will return to this issue in Chapter 29.

5. Make sure that you provide a sufficiently detailed account of all of the methodological details of the research for both the quantitative and the qualitative components. Sometimes researchers provide more detail concerning one element or give only a surface treatment of both. So, make sure that information about sampling, design, and administration of research instruments, analysis of the data, and the like are provided for both components.

6. As awareness of the different types of mixed methods design has spread, there is a growing expectation that the researcher stipulates the kind of design he or she is using and the reasons for that choice. The designs out- lined in the section above on ‘Different types of mixed methods design’ provides an outline of the fundamental types of design.

a. Is the research competently designed and conducted?

b. Have the researchers collected as much data as possible?

c. Has the case for using mixed methods being sufficiently made?

d. Are the most complicated forms of quantitative analysis applied to verify the theory?