Test Bank

Chapter 8: Qualitative Methods and Data Analysis

Multiple Choice

1. What is ethnography?

a. study of the ethos of related cultures

b. study of a culture or cultures that a group of people share

c. a set of methodological techniques to study people

d. quantitative expression of culture

Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe the features of qualitative research that most distinguish it from quantitative research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Origins of Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. The use of ethnographic methods to study online communities is known as ______.

a. computer-based ethnography

b. ethno-behavior analysis

c. netnography

d. social behavior analysis

Learning Objective: 8.2: Define the methods of ethnography and how they compare to netnography.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Netnography

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. The method of studying natural social processes as they happen, leaving them relatively undisturbed and minimizing your presence as a researcher, is ______.

a. complete observation

b. participant observation

c. participant as observer

d. covert participation

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Participant Observation

Difficulty Level: Medium

4. In her study of community policing, which role did Susan Miller (1999) adopt?

a. complete observer

b. participant as Observer

c. complete participant

d. study Overseer

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Complete Observation

Difficulty Level: Hard

5. The field research role that involves informing at least some group members of their research interests is ______.

a. complete observer

b. participant as observer

c. complete participant

d. study overseer

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Participation and Observation

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. In his role as “watch queen” in his study of male homosexual behavior in a public restroom, Laud Humphreys was adopting the role of ______.

a. overt participant

b. participant as observer

c. covert participant

d. observer

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Covert Participation

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. In his research on how riots happen at sporting events, Geoff Pearson (2009) engaged in covert participation of ‘hooligans’ at ______.

a. a University of Kentucky Wildcats game after a loss to the University of Wisconsin

b. a NBA basketball game in Los Angeles

c. NFL Cowboys football games in Texas

d. English football (soccer) events

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Case Study: The “Researcher as a Hooligan”

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. The systematic approach to sampling in participant observational research is known as ______.

a. theoretical sampling

b. the sampling frame

c. a census

d. random sampling

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sampling People and Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. The primary means of recording participant observation data is(are) ______.

a. jottings

b. theoretical notes

c. written field notes

d. a tape recorder

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Taking Notes

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. The more involved researchers are in multiple aspects of an ongoing social situation, the more important personal issues become and the ______.

a. more important outside relationships become

b. greater risk of “going native”

c. less important the personal dimension

d. more likely one is to utilize random sampling techniques

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Managing the Personal Dimensions

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. When a researcher develops a standard form on which to record variation within the observed settings in terms of his/her variables of interest, he or she is utilizing

a. systemic observational techniques

b. personal dimensional format

c. systematic observation

d. a form to avoid “going native”

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Systematic Observation

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. One of the ways Peter St. Jean (2007) advanced the research of Sampson and Raudenbush was to use multiple methods including ______.

a. resident surveys

b. in-depth interviews with residents and offenders

c. video cameras mounted on each side of a vehicle while it was slowly driven through neighborhood streets

d. all of these

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Systematic Observation

Difficulty Level: Hard

13. Intensive interviewing relies on ______.

a. open-ended questions

b. closed-ended questions

c. no question schedule

d. a presumption that interviewers know their subjects well

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Intensive Interviewing

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. The point at which subject selection is ended in intensive interviewing, when new interviews seem to yield little additional information is known as the ______.

a. tipping point

b. saturation point

c. point of no return

d. end point

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Establishing and Maintaining a Partnership

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. In intensive interviewing, more details can be elicited through ______.

a. directed probes

b. objective probes

c. nondirective probes

d. general questions

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Asking Questions and Recording Answers

Difficulty Level: Medium

16. Decker and VanWinkle’s (1996) interview narrative illustrates how to

a. strategically get a participant to agree to their methods ahead of time

b. elicit information through direct probes

c. strategize throughout an interview to best achieve objectives while taking into account interviewees’ answers

d. ask long, nondetailed follow-up questions

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Asking Questions and Recording Answers

Difficulty Level: Hard

17. Wyse (2018) conducted interviews with men over 50 that had been released from prison for a year or less and found that ______.

a. most had no problems adjusting to life after prison

b. they all felt connected to family and friends after their release from prison

c. they all faced substantial barriers including disconnections from family and friends and an inability to secure employment

d. her use of closed-ended questions aided in discovering feelings about disconnection

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Case Study: Barriers to Reentry for Older Offenders

Difficulty Level: Medium

18. Groups of individuals that are formed by a researcher and then led in group discussions of a topic are ______.

a. good for generalized information

b. focus groups

c. better known as participation groups

d. good for providing a means to develop reliable, well-known information

Learning Objective: 8.6: Discuss the advantages of focus group research, and identify particular challenges focus group researchers face.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Focus Groups

Difficulty Level: Easy

19. Williams and Stahl (2008) examined whether race was a determining factor in ______.

a. the length of sentence for infractions

b. the amount of violence offered in searches

c. whether a driver was given a ‘no contest’ option

d. whether a driver was searched after a traffic stop

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Case Study: An Analysis of Police Searches

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Qualitative data focuses on ______.

a. numbers

b. hard information

c. text

d. triangulated information

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Analyzing Qualitative Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. The first formal analytical step in qualitative data analysis is ______.

a. conceptualization

b. documentation

c. coding

d. examining relationships

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Documentation

Difficulty Level: Medium

22. In qualitative research, the ______ of data and their ______ are not typically separate activities.

a. collection; conceptualization

b. conceptualization; collection

c. analysis; categorization

d. collection; analysis

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Making Sense of It: Conceptualization, Coding, and Categorizing

Difficulty Level: Hard

23. The centerpiece of the analytic process is ______ relationships.

a. examining

b. categorizing

c. collecting

d. resistance of

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Examining Relationships and Displaying Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. A qualitative researcher’s conclusions should be assessed by their ability to provide ______.

a. clear documentation of their abilities

b. refined explanations of the iterative processes

c. a credible explanation for some aspect of social life

d. valid reasons for why people do what they do

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Examining Relationships and Displaying Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. The natural history of the development of what went on in the field, how the researcher interacted with subjects in the field, and the problems he/she encountered, is termed ______.

a. conflexivity

b. reflexivity

c. superflexibility

d. truths

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Reflexivity

Difficulty Level: Hard

26. In qualitative data analysis, theory development is ______.

a. done only at the beginning of the process

b. a deductive process, allowing researchers to answer questions along the way

c. a continual process

d. done only at the end of the process

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Alternatives in Qualitative Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard

27. The grounded theory approach develops general concepts from careful review of text or other qualitative materials and then ______.

a. present what they have found to other researchers to figure out the relationships

b. can suggest plausible relationships between the concepts

c. can only suggest what they think might happen in the days ahead

d. present what they have found to an institutional review board for guidance

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Grounded Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

28. Computer programs such as HyperRESEARCH, ATLAS.ti, and QSR NVivo ______.

a. “thinks” for the researcher

b. assist with text analysis, coding and preparation

c. allows the researcher to analyze data that doesn’t have to be scanned into the program

d. does very little in terms of qualitative data analysis

Learning Objective: 8.8: Discuss the ways computer software programs can facilitate qualitative data analysis.

Answer Location: Grounded Theory

Difficulty Level: Hard

29. The term for a code in NVivo is a(n) ______.

a. nodual

b. n-code

c. node

d. internal/external

Learning Objective: 8.8: Discuss the ways computer software programs can facilitate qualitative data analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Case Study: Narratives of Desistance From Crime and Substance Abuse

Difficulty Level: Hard

30. One of the textbook authors is currently involved in a research project examining the factors related to ______.

a. desistance for a sample of drug-involved offenders

b. resistance to sampling drug-involved offenders

c. consistency in drug involvement

d. unrelated events and conditions the affect likelihood that individuals engage in crime

Learning Objective: 8.8: Discuss the ways computer software programs can facilitate qualitative data analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Case Study: Narratives of Desistance From Crime and Substance Abuse

Difficulty Level: Hard

31. Ensuring that participants are participating in a study voluntarily is not often a problem with ______ but is often a point of contention with ______.

a. children; observational research

b. adults; intensive interviews

c. casual observation; focus groups

d. intensive interviewing and focus groups; participant observation

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Voluntary Participation

Difficulty Level: Hard

32. Direct harm to reputations or feelings of individuals may be avoided by ______.

a. maintaining confidentiality of research subjects

b. being cordial with research subjects

c. publicly offering to pay large sums of money to some but not to all participants

d. maintaining some sense of decorum with every other individual research subject

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Subject Well-Being

Difficulty Level: Medium

33. Current ethical standards require ______.

a. that the researchers go above and beyond what they are required to do

b. informed consent of research subjects

c. very little in terms of lower educated individuals

d. that researchers not deceive research subjects at all

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Identity Disclosure

Difficulty Level: Medium

34. Confidentiality is particularly important if ______.

a. the respondents don’t know that they might be ‘outed’

b. there is no chance that anything illegal might occur

c. there is no chance that offending behavior will be disclosed to friends/family

d. the research is uncovering deviant or illegal behavior

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Confidentiality

Difficulty Level: Medium

35. Qualitative methods may provide the only opportunity to learn about organized crime but they should ______.

a. not be used when potential risks can be determined to be less than half

b. be deemed acceptable when the researcher agrees to do it, even though his/her employer does not

c. not be used if the risks to the researchers are unacceptably high

d. only be used if local police agree

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Researcher Safety

Difficulty Level: Medium

True/False

1. In field research, natural social processes are studied as they happen and left relatively undisturbed.

Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe the features of qualitative research that most distinguish it from quantitative research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Origins of Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Easy

2. Ethnography as a method refers to the process by which a single investigator immerses himself or herself in a group for a long time (often one or more years), gradually establishing trust and experiencing the social world as do the participants.

Learning Objective: 8.2: Define the methods of ethnography and how they compare to netnography.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Origins of Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Easy

3. Netnography refers to the study of social safety nets as provided to communities for their protection.

Learning Objective: 8.2: Define the methods of ethnography and how they compare to netnography.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Netnography

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. Participant observation is a method of study natural social processes as they happen in laboratory settings.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Fundamentals of Qualitative Methods

Difficulty Level: Easy

5. In complete observation, researchers try to see things as they happen, without disrupting the participants.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Complete Observation

Difficulty Level: Easy

6. In the case study “Researcher as a Hooligan”, Pearson (2009) first attempted to interview self-professed hooligans about their behavior but found their reports to be unreliable.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Case Study: The “Researcher as a Hooligan”

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. The term ‘participant observer’ represents a continuum of roles.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Participant Observation

Difficulty Level: Medium

8. Theoretical sampling is a systematic approach to sampling in participant observational research.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sampling People and Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. Intensive interviewing relies on closed-ended questions.

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Intensive Interviewing

Difficulty Level: Medium

10. Miller (1999) combined participant observation and intensive interviewing for her studies of community policing.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Combining Participant Observation and Intensive Interviewing

Difficulty Level: Hard

11. Most field researchers adopt a role that involves some active participation in the setting.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Participation and Observation

Difficulty Level: Medium

12. Brief field notes, called jottings, serve as memory joggers when writing the actual field notes at a later time.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Sampling People and Events

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. There is no formula for successfully managing the personal dimension of field research.

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Managing the Personal Dimensions

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. The problems with entering the field in intensive interviewing are greatly increased, as compared with other types of interviewing.

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Establishing and Maintaining a Partnership

Difficulty Level: Medium

15. Tape or digital voice recorders actively discourage subjects from elaborating on answers.

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Asking Questions and Recording Answers

Difficulty Level: Hard

16. Random selection is rarely used to select respondents for intensive interviews.

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Knowledge

Answer Location: Intensive Interviewing

Difficulty Level: Easy

17. With focus groups, the researcher asks specific questions and guides the discussion to ensure that group members address the questions.

Learning Objective: 8.6: Discuss the advantages of focus group research, and identify particular challenges focus group researchers face.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Focus Groups

Difficulty Level: Easy

18. Often, the “text” that qualitative researchers analyze are the transcripts of interviews or notes from participant observation sessions.

Learning Objective: 8.5: Describe the process of intensive interviewing, and compare it with the process of interviewing in survey research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Analyzing Qualitative Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

19. The process of qualitative data analysis has been described as an art, or “dance” (Miller and Crabtree, 1999).

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Qualitative Data Analysis as an Art

Difficulty Level: Medium

20. Examining relationships is the centerpiece of the analytic process in qualitative research.

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Examining Relationships and Displaying Data

Difficulty Level: Medium

21. There are set standards for evaluating the validity or authenticity of conclusions in a qualitative study.

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Corroboration and Authenticating Conclusions

Difficulty Level: Hard

22. An accounting by a qualitative researcher that describes the natural history of the development of the evidence is reflexivity.

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Reflexivity

Difficulty Level: Hard

23. Levitt, Swanger, and Butler (2008) used a systematic grounded method of analysis to understand the perspective of male perpetrators of violence on female victims.

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Grounded Theory

Difficulty Level: Medium

24. The steps involved in computer-assisted qualitative data analysis parallel those used traditionally to analyze such text was notes, documents, or interview transcripts.

Learning Objective: 8.8: Discuss the ways computer software programs can facilitate qualitative data analysis.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

25. Qualitative research can raise some complex ethical issues.

Learning Objective: 8.7: Understand how grounded theory is developed.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Ethical Issues in Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Easy

Short Answer/Essay

1. What are qualitative methods? How can they be used? Name and describe the three distinctive research designs.

Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe the features of qualitative research that most distinguish it from quantitative research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Fundamentals of Qualitative Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

2. How are qualitative designs different from experimental and survey research methods?

Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe the features of qualitative research that most distinguish it from quantitative research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Fundamentals of Qualitative Methods

Difficulty Level: Medium

3. What are the origins of qualitative research?

Learning Objective: 8.1: Describe the features of qualitative research that most distinguish it from quantitative research.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Origins of Qualitative Research

Difficulty Level: Easy

4. What is Netnography?

Learning Objective: 8.2: Define the methods of ethnography and how they compare to netnography.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Netnography

Difficulty Level: Medium

5. What is Participant Observation? Name and describe the three roles of observing and participating.

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Choosing a Role

Difficulty Level: Medium

6. What are some ethical issues with regard to covert participation in research?

Learning Objective: 8.3: Compare the advantages and disadvantages of each participant observer role.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Covert Participation

Difficulty Level: Hard

7. What are some of the issues that must be dealt with when a researcher is enter the field or setting to do research? How did Rios deal with this?

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Entering the Field

Difficulty Level: Hard

8. How do researchers manage relationships in the field?

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Developing and Maintaining Relationships

Difficulty Level: Medium

9. How does Qualitative Data Analysis compare with Quantitative Data Analysis?

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Qualitative Compared With Quantitative Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard

10. What are the steps to qualitative data analysis?

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Techniques of Qualitative Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Medium

11. Becker (1958) notes at least three criteria for assessing data. Name and describe them.

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Analysis

Answer Location: Corroboration and Authenticating Conclusions

Difficulty Level: Hard

12. What is tacit knowledge? Why is it important in qualitative research?

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Corroboration and Authenticating Conclusions

Difficulty Level: Medium

13. What is reflexivity? Why is it important?

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Reflexivity

Difficulty Level: Medium

14. What is grounded theory?

Learning Objective: 8.4: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Comprehension

Answer Location: Grounded Theory

Difficulty Level: Hard

15. How is Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis accomplished? Describe the computer program QSR NVivo and how it was used by Bachman, Kerrison, O’Connell, & Paternoster (2013) in the case study: Narratives of Desistance From Crime and Substance Abuse.

Learning Objective: 8.8: Discuss the major challenges at each stage of a field research project.

Cognitive Domain: Application

Answer Location: Computer-Assisted Qualitative Data Analysis

Difficulty Level: Hard