Short-answer questions
Answer each question carefully. Consult your Social Research text when
your memory fails you or when you are in doubt about the accuracy of your
responses.
1
Describe briefly the nature and purpose of observation and its relation to other
methods of data collection such as surveys and indirect methods.
2
Describe the differences between naive and scientific observation.
3
Explain the differences between participant and non-participant observation.
4
Describe the differences between structured and unstructured observation.
5
In what ways is natural observation different from laboratory observation?
6
In what sense can observation be open or hidden?
7
Show the differences between active and passive observation.
8
How can observation be direct or indirect?
9
What steps does the process of observation include?
10 In what
ways are the processes of topic selection and research design in observation
different from the steps of the research process applied in social research?
11 What are
the required skills an observer should have to be effective and to avoid
problems and distortions?
12 What kind
of issues does the training of observers usually include?
13 How does
the process of data collection take place when observation is used as the
method?
14 What is
the most effective way of recording data in an observation situation?
15 What are
the main advantages and limitations of observation?
16 What are
the major problems of observation?
17 In what
ways can the observer be a source of problems?
18 In what
ways can the purpose of observation become a source of errors?
19 What are
the areas in which observation can be most effective in social research?
20 How can
problems of ethics and objectivity be controlled in observation?
21 How is the
study of traces employed in the area of social research? Give examples.
22 What are
the strengths and weaknesses of the study of traces?
23
In what ways are the processes of topic selection and research
design in observation different from the steps of the research process applied
in social research?