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 What are 'documentary methods' and how can they be used in
social research?
2 Why are documentary methods usually
referred to as indirect methods?
3 Are documentary methods primarily quantitative or
qualitative in nature?
4 What are the most common types of
documents considered in documentary research?
5 What are the major forms of documentary
research?
6 What are the major advantages and limitations of
documentary research?
7 How relevant is the biographical method
to social research? How does it operate?
8 What are the major methods of analysis of biographical
documents?
9 Is the biographical method a tool of
qualitative or quantitative research?
10 What is
'content analysis' and what is its structure and purpose?
11 Is content
analysis a quantitative or a qualitative method?
12 What are
'categories' and how are they used in content analysis? Give examples.
13 What
are the major steps of category construction in content analysis?
14 What are
the methods and techniques of data analysis employed by quantitative researchers
in content analysis?
15 How is the
method of objective hermeneutics employed in the analysis of qualitative data
gathering through content analysis?
16 In what
areas can indirect methods violate the rules of objectivity and how can this be
remedied (assuming that objectivity is to be observed)?
17 How can
the study of documents violate ethics?
18 In
what ways can documentary methods assist in solving social problems in modern
societies?
19 How can
documentary methods enrich social research? Explain why.
20 If you
were to criticise documentary methods, which elements would you criticise most
and why?
21 How
credible is data obtained through documentary methods?