Test Bank

Chapter 11: Qualitative Data Analysis

Multiple Choice

1. Which of the following is NOT a technique for qualitative data analysis?

A. documentation

B. coding

C. legitimization

D. progressive focusing

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. ______ reflects an awareness of participants’ actions and their words; it is the contextual understanding that is often represented nonverbally.

A. progressive focusing

B. legitimization

C. tacit knowledge

D. emic

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. A method of analysis that delves into the sequential organization and details of dialogue ______.

A. ethnography

B. qualitative comparative analysis

C. conversation analysis

D. narrative analysis

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Whyte (1991) coined the methodological approach termed participatory action research, urging social researchers to be more engaged with ______.

A. research participants

B. other researchers within their field

C. other researchers outside their field

D. the general public

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. This method seeks unexpected and puzzling observations but recognizes that we need to interpret them in relation to theories that we already know.

A. conversation analysis

B. grounded theory

C. abductive analysis

D. ethnomethodology

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. Anthropologists call the intention of representing a setting under study in the participants' own terms ______.

A. reflexive focus

B. emic focus

C. indigenous focus

D. holistic focus

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. Progressive focusing involves ______.

A. refining the study focus by interacting with data during the study period

B. using inductive methods to generate general propositions

C. reputational methods to determine informal leadership in a natural setting

D. coding and then recoding qualitative data in electronic (computerized) format)

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. There are three ways to read any text for analysis.

A. etically, emically, and reflexively

B. literally, reflexively, and interpretively

C. interpretively, objectively, and subjectively

D. intersubjectively, objectively, and subjectively

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Which of the following is NOT a common form of text used in qualitative analysis?

A. transcripts

B. field notes

C. pictures

D. conversation

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. If a researcher believes that the text can never be judged to be true or false, the researcher has what type of perspective?

A. emic

B. etic

C. analytic

D. hermeneutic

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. To interpret text literally, what must a researcher focus on?

A. how his or her orientation shapes research

B. how meaning is constructed in text

C. the subtext, or implied meaning

D. actual content and form

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Although the volume of data collected in qualitative analysis can overwhelm an inexperienced researcher, Schutt recommends which of the following to keep control of your data?

A. Discard unused data after the conceptualization stage

B. Maintain a disciplined transcription schedule

C. Hire professional transcribers

D. Review field notes and transcriptions only after the observation period has finished

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. In qualitative analysis, the first analytic step is ______.

A. documentation

B. conceptualization

C. coding

D. categorizing

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. The “centerpiece” of the qualitative analysis process is ______.

A. reflexivity

B. holism

C. examining relationships

D. documentation

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Examining relationships between concepts is important in qualitative analysis because it allows the researcher to ______.

A. generalize findings

B. validate findings

C. authenticate findings

D. move from description to explanation

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Tacit knowledge is best defined as ______.

A. initial responses to observations, made when analyzing field notes

B. information that key informants deliberately withhold from intensive interviews

C. largely unarticulated, contextual understandings of social processes

D. hypotheses taken from field research that can be tested in future research

Difficulty Level: Medium

17. The goal of qualitative comparative analysis is to do which of the following?

A. identify different pathways that lead to an outcome of interest

B. use ethnographic data from two or more sources

C. identify common themes among actors in a single setting

D. authenticate conclusions derived from one setting in another setting

Difficulty Level: Hard

18. Grounded theory requires analysts to ______.

A. induce theory from observations

B. test hypotheses

C. generate hypotheses from theories

D. chart conceptual connections

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. What identifies the combination of factors that had to be present across multiple cases to produce a particular outcome?

A. ethnomethodology

B. qualitative comparative analysis

C. grounded theory

D. case-oriented understanding

Difficulty Level: Hard

20. If you are concerned with how people construct reality more than describing that reality, which form of qualitative analysis would be most appropriate?

A. ethnomethodology

B. case-oriented analysis

C. ethnography

D. narrative analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard

21. The focus of ethnomethodologists is ______.

A. how people form identities

B. how people create reality

C. how people engage in interaction

D. how researchers affect their own research

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. One important goal of qualitative analysis is to inductively build up a systematic theory that is based on observations. This type of theory is known as ______.

A. pseudo-inductive theory

B. grounded theory

C. empirical theory

D. iterative theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

23. Which of the following is FALSE regarding computer-assisted qualitative data analysis?

A. Most programs can identify how context changes word use.

B. Most programs can generate the frequencies of specified codes.

C. Most programs can assign codes based on key words.

D. Most programs can allow you to revise codes.

Difficulty Level: Hard

24. The focus of narrative analysis is ______.

A. the story itself

B. conversation

C. multiple perspectives

D. interpretation of meaning

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. One researcher examined how people greeted one another on the street by paying careful attention to their verbal exchanges. This type of research is probably ______.

A. oral history

B. narrative analysis

C. ethnography

D. conversation analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard

26. A type of ethnomethodological research that concentrates on talk is ______.

A. qualitative comparative analysis

B. narrative analysis

C. ethnography

D. conversation analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard

27. A case-oriented understanding attempts to understand something from which perspective?

A. researcher's

B. hermeneutic

C. participants'

D. emic

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Which of the following is NOT useful for assessing the quality of qualitative analysis?

A. Does the analysis illuminate the phenomenon as a lived experience?

B. Is the analysis thickly contextualized?

C. Does the study produce generalizable findings?

D. Is the study historically and relationally grounded?

Difficulty Level: Hard

29. What is developed inductively and is based on observations that are summarized into conceptual categories?

A. ethnographies

B. netnographies

C. ethnomethodlogies

D. grounded theory

Difficulty Level: Hard

30. If a researcher wants to use an interpretive research philosophy that is not geared to identifying causes but provides a different way to explain social phenomena, then the research wishes to engage in?

A. netnography

B. ethnography

C. ethnomethodology

D. case-oriented understanding

Difficulty Level: Hard

31. What strategy increases the reliability of observational data by using explicit rules that standardize coding practices across observers?

A. participatory action research

B. systematic observation

C. photo voice

D. computer-assisted qualitative data analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

32. Topics for concern regarding ethics in qualitative data analysis include all of the following EXCEPT ______.

A. privacy

B. confidentiality

C. compensation

D. anonymity

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. Sociologists developing methods to learn how others “see” the social world and to create images for further study are concerned with ______.

A. media sociology

B. narrative analysis

C. visual sociology

D. photography

Difficulty Level: Easy

34. Which of the following is NOT a popular program used by sociologists in order to analyze texts such as notes, documents, and interview transcripts?

A. HyperRESEARCH

B. QSR NVivo

C. ATLAS.ti

D. TEXT transfer

Difficulty Level: Easy

35. A researcher has concerns about having a duty to help his or her findings to be used appropriately. This ethical concern focuses on ______.

A. research integrity and quality

B. ownership of data and conclusions

C. intervention and advocacy

D. use and misuse of results

Difficulty Level: Hard

True/False

1. Qualitative data analysis focuses on text instead of numbers.

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Qualitative researchers may have a hermeneutic perspective on text.

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. An emic focus represents a setting in the participants' terms.

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Qualitative data analysts should never read text literally.

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. A typical research question in qualitative data analysis is explanatory.

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. Qualitative analysts focus on the variables instead of the case.

Difficulty Level: Easy

7. To read text interpretively, a researcher must focus on how his or her own orientation shapes the research.

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. The analysis of qualitative research notes begins in the field.

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Qualitative data analysis on meaning and in-depth study makes it a valuable supplement to analysis of quantitative data.

Difficulty Level: Easy

10. Concepts and analytic insights are usually derived from field notes and interviews after the observation period has ended.

Difficulty Level: Easy

11. Qualitative research demands a disciplined transcription schedule, so the researcher does not become overwhelmed.

Difficulty Level: Easy

12. Spontaneous statements made by informants in a qualitative study are more authentic than those made in response to a researcher's questions.

Difficulty Level: Easy

13. The credibility of the informants cannot be assessed in qualitative research.

Difficulty Level: Easy

14. Confidence in the conclusions from a field research study is also strengthened by an honest and informative account about how the researcher interacted with subjects in the field.

Difficulty Level: Easy

15. Systematic observational strategies use explicit rules that standardize observations across observers.

Difficulty Level: Easy

Essay

1. What is participatory action research? How might this type of research benefit projects in fields such as public health, social work, and sociology?

Difficulty Level: Hard

2. Contrast conversation analysis with narrative analysis.

Difficulty Level: Hard

3. What is photo voice? How is it used in qualitative data analysis?

Difficulty Level: Hard

4. Describe grounded theory. How does it compare to deductive research?

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. Explain how qualitative data analysis differs from quantitative data analysis.

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. How does a qualitative researcher examine how his or her role in the research may alter findings and interpretations? Also explain how a qualitative researcher reports on his or her role.

Difficulty Level: Medium

7. What are the advantages of using computer programs to assist in qualitative analysis? Generally outline how these programs operate and explain how they are designed to facilitate analysis and reporting of qualitative data.

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. Describe the ethics involved in qualitative data analysis. Do these differ from ethics in other forms of data analysis? Explain.

Difficulty Level: Hard

9. What is conversation analysis? How does it use conversation? How is it similar to ethnomethodology?

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. How is visual sociology different from other forms of qualitative analysis? Propose a research project that would use visual sociology to understand the social world.

Difficulty Level: Hard