SOLUTIONS GRADED A+
● Quantitative Research. Answer: Assumes social facts have a single
objective reality.
Tends to study samples or populations.
Researchers try not to influence collection of data (instruments).
Statistical methods comparing and contrasting groups occurs.
Researchers examine for causes and relationships.
● Qualitative Research. Answer: Assumes multiple realities socially
constructed by individuals and groups.
Tends to study individual units - person, family, community — in
naturalistic setting.
Researchers may be primary instrument for collecting data (through
observation).
,Researchers' impressions, judgments and feelings may be used.
Goal is to describe the nature of things.
● Inductive vs. Deductive Research. Answer: Inductive: this research
begins at the real world, practical level. It tends to be descriptive,
correlational, or historical and leads to the building of theory.
Deductive: this research springs from theory which is already
established.
This research tries to determine what the relationships are between
elements of the theory and may be experimental in nature.
● Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Survey. Answer: This may
occur through questionnaires, interviews, etc. and is used to measure
attitudes, perceptions, etc. (For example: Public Opinion Poll). Often the
response rate of survey research is low, below 50 percent. Unless you
know that the characteristics of the non-
respondents are similar to the characteristics of the respondents, you
must be cautious in generalizing.
● Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Descriptive. Answer:
Descriptive: this research simply describes an existing state of events.
Numbers may be used to characterize groups or individuals.
, ● Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Comparative. Answer: This
research method investigates whether there are differences between two
or more groups. There is no manipulation of conditions experienced by
each group.
● Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Correlational. Answer:
This research method uses the correlation coefficient to determine the
degree of relationship between two or more variables or phenomena.
● Quantitative (Non-Experimental Designs): Ex Post Facto. Answer:
Also called causal-comparative, this research design studies possible
causal relationships among variables ex post facto (after the fact). You
do not manipulate any variables; the focus is on what has already
happened (after the fact). You may generate 'several' reasons (causes) for
the relationships you discover.
For example: Two employment agencies conduct job dubs. In one
agency, the job clubs are member-initiated and run whereas in the other,
employment counselors provide instruction and guidance. In examining
the job placement rates of members for the past year, you find that the
members of the professionally led groups had a higher placement rate.
Typical statistics used in ex post facto research are the t -test and
analysis of variance,