COM 304 EXAM 1 QUESTIONS AND VERIFIED
ANSWERS
Observations do/don't Capture underlying reality - Answers - It depends, what's our
sample size, types of questions, and our goal?
Theories about human behavior Can/cannot be generalized - Answers - It depends, if
we have a large sample size and we're trying to generalize than yes.
Researchers should/should not Distance themselves from participants - Answers - It
depends, to much distance breaks trust while no distance could possible influence the
results.
Research should/should not be done for a specific purpose - Answers - It depends.
There is/is not one best position from which to observe human behavior - Answers - It
depends, sometimes we need to be on the front lines while others we need to sit back
and just watch.
Should one use a Wide or Narrow field of study? - Answers - Needs to be Narrow, too
large of a field could lead to not being able to control our research
Should we be dispassionate or involved in research? - Answers - Depends on the
research as something like BLM would force us to be involved to create trust and get
truthful questions compared to dispassionate and and no trust from our participants,
leading to people not telling the truth.
Should we use our questions or our participant's questions? - Answers - It depends. For
example, we would want the participant's answers if we had qualitative questions.
Quanativite questions would give us data, leading us to use our questions.
Should we have large samples or small samples of people? - Answers - It depends on
the questions, goals, and research overall. If we're trying to generalize than we would
want a large sample. If we're looking for specific answers than smaller samples.
Should we use quantitative or qualitative data? - Answers - It depends. It all depends on
the research on the data we're looking for. We can survey, experiment, or look at their
messages and study them (content analysis OR theoretical criticism) we gotta find the
right tool for the job. Once we have the question, we know which method to use.
, The difference between Worldview 1 and Worldview 2 - Answers - Worldview 1
privileges researchers' perspectives while Worldview 2 privileges participants'
perspectives
Postpositive - Answers - Challenging absolute truths with data and testing theories. With
an emphasis on objective observation and measurement, we see a lot of cause and
effect. Always questioning the truth.
Constructivist - Answers - Subjective and understanding only one point of view.
Transformative - Answers - Subjective and understanding only one point of view.
Pragmatism - Answers - Focusing on the solutions and decisions are made on the basis
of what researchers are already doing or want to do.
Scholarly Journals - Answers - articles that go through a process of peer review before
publication, subheadings (abstract, method, literature review, etc.), and spaced out by
months, or quarters.
Popular Journals - Answers - are published without a refereeing process, typically in
daily or weekly media, and are targeted to a lay audience.
Trade Publications - Answers - are written by experts, but the expert is more likely to be
practitioners than academics, and their articles are not usually peer-reviewed or
refereed. More topical, and appear daily, weekly, or monthly.
Primary Source - Answers - The original article → the original data
Secondary Source - Answers - A summary or summaries of primary articles compiled
into one.
Tertiary Source - Answers - collects secondary sources and does own papers (world
books, encyclopedias, Wikipedia, etc.)
Topical Structure - Answers - Organizing a literature review topically means when your
study covers multiple areas and you might discuss each of them individually. You may
do this when in the example, starting with mental health in adolescence, social media
usage in adolescence, and ending with mental health and social media usage in
adolescence. You would then show the gaps of where your study fits
Historical Structure - Answers - Historically, you describe and evaluate selected
research reports in order from oldest to most recent. The reason behind this is to see
how the topic has changed over time.
Pro-Con Structure - Answers - A pro-con structure would have you analyzing where the
research articles agree and disagree and then coming to a conclusion. You could do
ANSWERS
Observations do/don't Capture underlying reality - Answers - It depends, what's our
sample size, types of questions, and our goal?
Theories about human behavior Can/cannot be generalized - Answers - It depends, if
we have a large sample size and we're trying to generalize than yes.
Researchers should/should not Distance themselves from participants - Answers - It
depends, to much distance breaks trust while no distance could possible influence the
results.
Research should/should not be done for a specific purpose - Answers - It depends.
There is/is not one best position from which to observe human behavior - Answers - It
depends, sometimes we need to be on the front lines while others we need to sit back
and just watch.
Should one use a Wide or Narrow field of study? - Answers - Needs to be Narrow, too
large of a field could lead to not being able to control our research
Should we be dispassionate or involved in research? - Answers - Depends on the
research as something like BLM would force us to be involved to create trust and get
truthful questions compared to dispassionate and and no trust from our participants,
leading to people not telling the truth.
Should we use our questions or our participant's questions? - Answers - It depends. For
example, we would want the participant's answers if we had qualitative questions.
Quanativite questions would give us data, leading us to use our questions.
Should we have large samples or small samples of people? - Answers - It depends on
the questions, goals, and research overall. If we're trying to generalize than we would
want a large sample. If we're looking for specific answers than smaller samples.
Should we use quantitative or qualitative data? - Answers - It depends. It all depends on
the research on the data we're looking for. We can survey, experiment, or look at their
messages and study them (content analysis OR theoretical criticism) we gotta find the
right tool for the job. Once we have the question, we know which method to use.
, The difference between Worldview 1 and Worldview 2 - Answers - Worldview 1
privileges researchers' perspectives while Worldview 2 privileges participants'
perspectives
Postpositive - Answers - Challenging absolute truths with data and testing theories. With
an emphasis on objective observation and measurement, we see a lot of cause and
effect. Always questioning the truth.
Constructivist - Answers - Subjective and understanding only one point of view.
Transformative - Answers - Subjective and understanding only one point of view.
Pragmatism - Answers - Focusing on the solutions and decisions are made on the basis
of what researchers are already doing or want to do.
Scholarly Journals - Answers - articles that go through a process of peer review before
publication, subheadings (abstract, method, literature review, etc.), and spaced out by
months, or quarters.
Popular Journals - Answers - are published without a refereeing process, typically in
daily or weekly media, and are targeted to a lay audience.
Trade Publications - Answers - are written by experts, but the expert is more likely to be
practitioners than academics, and their articles are not usually peer-reviewed or
refereed. More topical, and appear daily, weekly, or monthly.
Primary Source - Answers - The original article → the original data
Secondary Source - Answers - A summary or summaries of primary articles compiled
into one.
Tertiary Source - Answers - collects secondary sources and does own papers (world
books, encyclopedias, Wikipedia, etc.)
Topical Structure - Answers - Organizing a literature review topically means when your
study covers multiple areas and you might discuss each of them individually. You may
do this when in the example, starting with mental health in adolescence, social media
usage in adolescence, and ending with mental health and social media usage in
adolescence. You would then show the gaps of where your study fits
Historical Structure - Answers - Historically, you describe and evaluate selected
research reports in order from oldest to most recent. The reason behind this is to see
how the topic has changed over time.
Pro-Con Structure - Answers - A pro-con structure would have you analyzing where the
research articles agree and disagree and then coming to a conclusion. You could do
