Deck 1: Introduction

Question 1

All of the following are approaches used by qualitative researchers except ________.

A) in-depth interviewing
B) participant observation
C) surveys that ask about frequency
D) document analysis

Answer 1

surveys that ask about frequency

Question 2

According to the textbook, qualitative methods are "powerful" because ________.

A) researchers are able to generate publishable data without actually talking to people
B) they allow the studied people to define what is central and important in their experience
C) they always uncover taken-for-granted truths
D) they allow human experience to be collapsed into easily analyzable numerical categories

Answer 2

they allow the studied people to define what is central and important in their experience

Question 3

According to the textbook, qualitative researchers often get their research ideas from ________.

A) reviewing the existing literature and identifying key "gaps"
B) using experiences from everyday life
C) students' essays and assignments
D) the classic figures in sociology, such as Marx, Durkheim, and Weber

Answer 3

using experiences from everyday life

Question 4

The textbook suggests that the different body postures and positions of male and female students she observed in the university classroom demonstrate ________.

A) that the behaviour of males and females is identical
B) that little can be learned from casual observation
C) the presence of gender inequality is everywhere
D) how the use of space is gendered

Question 5

Sociologist Shulamit Reinharz refers to her habit of "being extremely attentive" to her surroundings and noticing "patterns in the mundane experiences of everyday life" as ________.

A) scientific integrity
B) an occupational hazard
C) obsessive nosiness
D) a special gift that only sociologists have

Question 6

The importance of ethical issues in qualitative research is ________.

A) demonstrated by the fact that a whole chapter in the textbook is devoted to the issue
B) vastly overstated
C) demonstrated by the fact that the textbook devotes little attention to the issue
D) highly disputed

Question 7

Qualitative studies ________.

A) explore the social worlds of very diverse groups
B) tend to focus on individuals who are considered deviant
C) mostly focus on powerful groups within society
D) about any topic are rather dry

Question 8

One of the most important conferences for qualitative research in Canada is called the ________.

A) Summit on Qualitative Research in Canada
B) Canadian Qualitative Analysis Conference
C) Annual Canadian Qualitative Researchers Meeting
D) Canadian Congress of Qualitative Methods

Question 9

When discussing research on widows' well-being, the textbook notes that qualitative methods ________.

A) help discover series of correlations that sum up how the women adjust to well-being
B) are less invasive than quantitative ones
C) enable the researcher to encourage the women to define their experiences
D) enable the researcher to discover objective expectations

Question 10

While conducting research, qualitative researchers need to be very aware of ________.

A) social interactions that occur in the environment they are in
B) who else is in their social environment
C) the geography of their physical environment
D) the physical and social environment they are in, who else is in it, and how they are acting and interacting

Question 11

Qualitative researchers refer to the people they interview or observe as ________.

A) subjects
B) friends
C) participants
D) attendees

Question 12

Which of the following research methods straddles the line between interviews and observation?

A) covert observation
B) document analysis
C) structured interviews
D) focus groups

Question 13

One of the advantages of qualitative methods is that they can often lead to the gaining of a deeper understanding of the participants than could be acquired through quantitative methods.

Question 14

When a researcher uses a participatory approach with those interviewed or observed, the term participant is often used rather than subject.

Question 15

What qualitative researchers uncover is much more than just common sense.

Question 16

The author of the textbook often refers to her own research on the well-being of divorced people.

Question 17

The textbook notes that it is virtually impossible to take an ethical approach to qualitative research.

Question 18

Qualitative researchers are able to spot patterns because of an in-depth awareness of their environment and a sociologically informed attention to detail.

Question 19

Qualitative researchers often succeed at keeping their professional lives entirely separate from their personal lives.

Question 20

Using the author's example of research on widowhood, explain the respective advantages and disadvantages of qualitative and quantitative methods.

Question 21

Briefly discuss Candace West's work on dog parks and what this example demonstrates.

Question 22

Without reading ahead in the textbook, identify a research topic that is full of ethical dilemmas and explain why.

Question 23

Discuss issues related to personality and skill set that might make it difficult for someone to be a successful qualitative researcher. Feel free to talk about your own experience to apply ideas from the textbook.

Question 24

Discuss why students mistakenly assume qualitative research is the same as common sense.

Question 25

The author suggests that the way university students use classroom space is gendered. Discuss examples of how public space is gendered and why/how you noticed.

Question 26

Some topics are very difficult for students to study as part of a qualitative methods course assignment. Identify and discuss several reasons why that is the case.