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, Bell, Bryman & Harley: Business Research Methods, 5th edition
• provide your readers with a clear sense of what your research is about.
Page reference: 10
Type: multiple choice question
Title: Chapter 01 - Question 07
07) A representative sample is a sample that:
a. Represents the views of a specific group of people
Feedback: Many people associate sampling with surveys and the quest for representative samples.
Such sampling is usually based on constructing a sample that can represent (and therefore act as a
microcosm of) a wider population.
Page reference: 11
*b. Represents a wider population
Feedback: Many people associate sampling with surveys and the quest for representative samples.
Such sampling is usually based on constructing a sample that can represent (and therefore act as a
microcosm of) a wider population.
TU
Page reference: 11
c. Tends to be smaller in nature
Feedback: Many people associate sampling with surveys and the quest for representative samples.
Such sampling is usually based on constructing a sample that can represent (and therefore act as a
microcosm of) a wider population.
Page reference: 11
d. Is more democratic in its aims and objectives
Feedback: Many people associate sampling with surveys and the quest for representative samples.
TO
Such sampling is usually based on constructing a sample that can represent (and therefore act as a
microcosm of) a wider population.
Page reference: 11
Type: multiple choice question
Title: Chapter 01 - Question 08
08) Which of the following is not a feature of data analysis?
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a. Transcription
Feedback: Transcription enables the researcher to upload the transcripts into a computer software
program of the kind dis- cussed in Chapter 25. In the research by Clarke et al., once the transcripts
had been uploaded into the software, the authors began by coding each transcript. This is a process
G
whereby the data are broken down into component parts which are then given labels. The analyst
searches for re-occurrences of sequences of coded text within and across cases and for links
between different codes. Clarke et al. began by identifying a number of ‘descriptive order’ categories
such as ‘emotion’ and ‘changes in the higher education system’ (2012: 8), which they later expanded
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or collapsed as the analysis progressed, refining them into more analytic categories such as
‘professionalism’, eventually arriving at core themes which they concentrated on. This approach is
referred to as thematic analysis. There is a lot going on here: data are being made more manage-
able than they would be if the researcher just kept listening and re-listening to the recordings; the
R
researcher is making sense of data through coding; and data are being interpreted—that is, the
researcher is linking the process of making sense of the data with the research question, as well as
with the literature and theoretical concepts.
The data analysis stage is fundamentally about data reduction—that is, reducing the large corpus of
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information gathered in order to make sense of it. Unless the researcher reduces the data collected—
for example, in the case of quantitative data by producing tables or aver- ages and in the case of
qualitative data by grouping textual material into categories such as themes—it is more or less
impossible to interpret the material.
Page reference: 13
b. Coding
Feedback: Transcription enables the researcher to upload the transcripts into a computer software
program of the kind dis- cussed in Chapter 25. In the research by Clarke et al., once the transcripts
had been uploaded into the software, the authors began by coding each transcript. This is a process
whereby the data are broken down into component parts which are then given labels. The analyst
searches for re-occurrences of sequences of coded text within and across cases and for links
between different codes. Clarke et al. began by identifying a number of ‘descriptive order’ categories
R
U
G
R
TO
TU
, U
R
U
G
R
TO
TU
, U
R
U
G
R
TO
TU
, Bell, Bryman & Harley: Business Research Methods, 5th edition
• provide your readers with a clear sense of what your research is about.
Page reference: 10
Type: multiple choice question
Title: Chapter 01 - Question 07
07) A representative sample is a sample that:
a. Represents the views of a specific group of people
Feedback: Many people associate sampling with surveys and the quest for representative samples.
Such sampling is usually based on constructing a sample that can represent (and therefore act as a
microcosm of) a wider population.
Page reference: 11
*b. Represents a wider population
Feedback: Many people associate sampling with surveys and the quest for representative samples.
Such sampling is usually based on constructing a sample that can represent (and therefore act as a
microcosm of) a wider population.
TU
Page reference: 11
c. Tends to be smaller in nature
Feedback: Many people associate sampling with surveys and the quest for representative samples.
Such sampling is usually based on constructing a sample that can represent (and therefore act as a
microcosm of) a wider population.
Page reference: 11
d. Is more democratic in its aims and objectives
Feedback: Many people associate sampling with surveys and the quest for representative samples.
TO
Such sampling is usually based on constructing a sample that can represent (and therefore act as a
microcosm of) a wider population.
Page reference: 11
Type: multiple choice question
Title: Chapter 01 - Question 08
08) Which of the following is not a feature of data analysis?
R
a. Transcription
Feedback: Transcription enables the researcher to upload the transcripts into a computer software
program of the kind dis- cussed in Chapter 25. In the research by Clarke et al., once the transcripts
had been uploaded into the software, the authors began by coding each transcript. This is a process
G
whereby the data are broken down into component parts which are then given labels. The analyst
searches for re-occurrences of sequences of coded text within and across cases and for links
between different codes. Clarke et al. began by identifying a number of ‘descriptive order’ categories
such as ‘emotion’ and ‘changes in the higher education system’ (2012: 8), which they later expanded
U
or collapsed as the analysis progressed, refining them into more analytic categories such as
‘professionalism’, eventually arriving at core themes which they concentrated on. This approach is
referred to as thematic analysis. There is a lot going on here: data are being made more manage-
able than they would be if the researcher just kept listening and re-listening to the recordings; the
R
researcher is making sense of data through coding; and data are being interpreted—that is, the
researcher is linking the process of making sense of the data with the research question, as well as
with the literature and theoretical concepts.
The data analysis stage is fundamentally about data reduction—that is, reducing the large corpus of
U
information gathered in order to make sense of it. Unless the researcher reduces the data collected—
for example, in the case of quantitative data by producing tables or aver- ages and in the case of
qualitative data by grouping textual material into categories such as themes—it is more or less
impossible to interpret the material.
Page reference: 13
b. Coding
Feedback: Transcription enables the researcher to upload the transcripts into a computer software
program of the kind dis- cussed in Chapter 25. In the research by Clarke et al., once the transcripts
had been uploaded into the software, the authors began by coding each transcript. This is a process
whereby the data are broken down into component parts which are then given labels. The analyst
searches for re-occurrences of sequences of coded text within and across cases and for links
between different codes. Clarke et al. began by identifying a number of ‘descriptive order’ categories
