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
Explain the meaning and purpose of measurement the way you
understand it.
2
What is the difference between 'common-sense' measurement
and methodological measurement?
3
What does qualitative measurement entail?
4
What does quantitative measurement entail?
5
What are the four levels of measurement?
6
What are the main criteria of each of the types of
measurement?
7
What are the mathematical principles of each of the four
types of measurement?
8
What are the main principles of quantitative research?
9
Define in simple terms the nature and principles of validity.
10
What is empirical validation?
11
Explain the meaning of concurrent validity.
12
Describe the nature and process of theoretical validation.
13
Explain the nature of face validity.
14
Explain the differences and similarities between content and
construct validity.
15
What is the general response of qualitative researchers to
validity?
16
Describe the types of validation employed in qualitative research.
17
Which methodology provides a higher level of validity?
18
What is reliability, and how relevant and important is it for
social research?
19
What are three types of reliability employed in the social
sciences?
20
Explain briefly the meaning of stability reliability,
representative reliability and equivalence reliability.
21
Discuss critically the methods employed by social researchers to
test reliability.
22
What is the position of qualitative researchers on the notion of
reliability?
23
What is the relationship between validity and reliability in social
research?
24
What is the essence of the debate about objectivity in social
research?
25
Should social scientists be subjective or objective in their
research?
26
What do you understand under normativism and how does it perceive
social research?
27
To what extent is objectivity possible?
28
To what extent is subjectivity desirable?
29
Are value neutrality and normativism compatible in any way and to
any extent in social research?
30
What is meant by representativeness and what is its significance
for qualitative research?
31
What types of generalisations are allowed in quantitative and
qualitative research?
32
What are indexes and how are they employed in social sciences?
33
What are scales and where and how are they employed in social
research?
34
What are the basic principles of scale construction?
35
What are the reasons for using scales in social research?
36
Describe the nature and usefulness of scales.
37
Do qualitative researchers employ scales? Explain.