Deck 6: Evaluating Research

Question 1

What are the main warrants for evaluating social scientific research?

A) Power
B) Sincerity
C) Reliability
D) Validity
E) All except B

Answer 1

All except B

Question 2

To what does "precision" refer to when evaluating social scientific research?

A) Precision of the hypothesis/hypotheses
B) Accuracy to measure variables
C) Accuracy of the theory/theories used

Answer 2

Accuracy to measure variables

Question 3

What features of research does "parsimony" NOT describe?

A) The combination of power and precision
B) The ability to cover a broad range of issues in a succinct way
C) Having very few hypotheses
D) Using the most powerful and appropriate method(s)

Answer 3

Having very few hypotheses

Question 4

To which warrant does the fact that your instrument performs the same way over time correspond?

A) Validity
B) Precision
C) Reliability
D) None of the above

Question 5

What does "intercoder reliability" measure?

A) How reliable is data before being coded
B) How similar/different are the people coding data
C) How reliable is the method to code data

Question 6

What tools can be used to measure reliability?

A) Intercoder reliability analysis
B) Alternate-forms
C) Internal consistency measurement
D) All of the above

Question 7

Which of the following is NOT measured in terms of "validity"?

A) Content
B) Findings
C) Construct
D) Criterion-related

Question 8

What type of validity refers to the ability of the instrument to measure what is being researched?

A) Content validity
B) Construct validity
C) Both of them

Question 9

Which of the following criteria is NOT a warrant for evaluating interpretive research?

A) Worthy topic
B) Meaningful coherence
C) Rich rigor
D) Power

Question 10

In which ways is a topic "worthy"?

A) By repeating what has been done before
B) By covering new ground
C) By dealing with relevant issues to the discipline or society
D) B and C

Question 11

To which warrant is "thick description" related?

A) Sincerity
B) Resonance
C) Credibility

Question 12

In which ways can you improve credibility in interpretive research?

A) By conveying as much details as possible about your data
B) By providing details about your own experience as a researcher
C) By making sure that you spent enough time in the field
D) By using various data sets, methods and theories
E) All but C

Question 13

Which of the following criteria refer to the "resonance" of research?

A) Its transferability
B) Its generalizability
C) Its aesthetic merit
D) Its respect of ethics
E) A and C

Question 14

How do interpretive studies demonstrate "coherence"?

A) By achieving their stated purpose
B) By using clear research questions
C) By using methods that correspond to the theories and paradigm chosen
D) A and C
E) All of the above

Question 15

Which aspect of ethics refers to keeping participants' identities secret?

A) Academic freedom
B) Confidentiality
C) Informed consent

Question 16

Which paradigms share the most common warrants for evaluating research?

A) Social scientific and interpretive paradigms
B) Interpretive and critical/cultural paradigms
C) None of them

Question 17

What specific aspect of research is difficult to assess for critical/cultural scholars?

A) Subjectivity
B) Length of the study
C) Variety of theories used

Question 18

What are critical theorists aiming at when doing research?

A) Revealing contradictions within system of thoughts
B) Enabling the emancipation of their research subjects and their readers
C) Providing detailed descriptions of individuals' experiences
D) A and C

Question 19

Which of the following criteria are warrants for evaluating critical/cultural work?

A) Reflexivity
B) Coherence
C) Worthy topics
D) All of the above

Question 20

Which of the following(s) does NOT argue(s) that separating the values of the researcher from the topic being studied is not possible?

A) Social scientific paradigm
B) Interpretive paradigm
C) Critical/cultural paradigm

Question 21

How do "concurrent validity" and "predictive validity" differ from each other?

Question 22

What is the main difference between warrants for evaluating social scientific work and interpretive research?

Question 23

In which ways can interpretive research make a contribution to scholarship?

Question 24

Why are critical theorists often skeptical of social scientific methods?

Question 25

What does reflexivity mean and how relevant is it to research?

Question 26

Discuss the importance of ethical guidelines as a warrant for research and the similarities regarding ethics across paradigms.

Question 27

What are the main differences regarding warrants for evaluating research between the three main paradigms and on what grounds are they based?