General Awareness · Social Science

Research Methodology

2,328 Questions

Research methodology encompasses the systematic strategies used to collect and analyze data for academic and policy studies. These concepts are frequently tested in civil services and state public service commission examinations. The questions cover qualitative and quantitative methods, sampling techniques, and research validity.

Action research cycleQualitative data analysisQuantitative research methodsTypes of validitySampling techniquesPolicy analysis methods

Research Methodology Questions

Multiple choice

Which of the following terms is used in relation to randomised control trials, to describe allocation of treatment in such away that the treatment which will be allocated to a specific subject is unclear before he/she is entered into the study?

  1. Blinding

  2. Allocation concealment

  3. Random sampling

  4. Covariate-adaptive randomisation
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
B Correct answer
Explanation

This term is used in randomised controll trials to mean that decision regarding allocation of a research participant is unknown before he is entered into the study. This strategy is used to avoid bias in the research study.

Multiple choice

In which of the following feasibility studies is the cost/benefit analysis done?

  1. Market research

  2. Social feasibility

  3. Technical feasibility

  4. Economic feasibility

  5. Operational feasibility
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Economic feasibility considers the cost/benefits of the proposed system, details of the costs that will be incurred by the organisation adopting the new systemconsidering the development costs and running costs.

Multiple choice

Which study measures the effectiveness of a proposed system to solve the problems?

  1. Operational feasibility

  2. Technology and system feasibility

  3. Legal feasibility

  4. Economic feasibility

  5. Technical feasibility
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
A Correct answer
Explanation

Operational feasibility is a measure of how well a proposed system solves the problems and takes advantage of the opportunities identified during scope definition, and how it satisfies the requirements identified in the requirements analysis phase of system development.

Multiple choice

Give the best summary of the third paragraph.

Directions: Answer the given question based on the following passage:

Data of educational psychology are obtained in various methods. These methods range in reliability from extremely low to very high. In addition to the questionable validity of the information obtained by research, there are certain risks of inference involved when the results of laboratory investigations are extrapolated to classroom applications. Every classroom is unique in many ways and there are certain risks in generalising from the laboratory to the classroom as well as from one type of classroom to another.
Educational psychologists and educators in the field would do a service to the profession if they would cross-validate laboratory studies in the classroom and pool the results from such studies in several schools to determine the generality of their findings.
Conventional textbooks are quite unsatisfactory for the student who wishes to critically evaluate the reliability of the methods used in obtaining the information presented. The book, which presents enough of the methodology of the studies from which all of the data presented are derived, would be able to cover a very limited area of subject matter and a small number of studies. It is necessary, therefore, for textbooks to become authoritarian in tenor and subject-matter oriented if they are to be useful to the student who is largely a consumer of research data. Data presented in textbook fashion must be accepted largely on faith—faith in the veracity of the presentations and in the reliability of the research methods used.
The student who is critical will want to go back to the original studies to check on the original methods and data on issues which are crucial for him. There are books of readings available in which selected studies are presented in their complete forms. These constitute useful supplements to the subject-matter oriented textbook. A textbook should be perceived by the student as a presentation of the best available information to date, organised and interpreted within a limited frame of reference.

 

  1. It is not enough for a textbook to contain data derived from various sources if students do not find them useful.

  2. Textbooks can never be exhaustive as they will always be constrained by limitedness of studies and researches made.

  3. Unquestionable reliability of data made available is always more important than quantum of data.

  4. A textbook must present unblemished data, be authoritative in tenor and must be subject-matter oriented.

  5. Conventional textbooks are not useful to students as they contain input that may be little sum and substance.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

This is the best summary as it touches on the basic issues of reliability and authenticity of data.

Multiple choice

Which of the following best describes ex-post facto research?

  1. Research carried out knowing that the incident will never occur

  2. Research carried out before the occurrence of the incident

  3. Research carried out after the incident

  4. Research carried out imagining the incident

  5. Research carried out during the occurence of the incident
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Ex-post facto research is a systematic, empirical inquiry in which the scientist does not have direct control of independent variables because their manifestations have already occurred or because they are inherently not manipulated.

Multiple choice

Which of these is a non probability sampling method?

  1. Simple random sample

  2. Systematic sampling

  3. Stratified sampling

  4. Accidental sampling

  5. Multistage sampling
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Accidental sampling - members of the population are chosen based on their relative ease of access. It is a non-probability based method of sampling.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is false regarding a working hypothesis?

  1. It may be used as a conceptual framework in qualitative research.

  2. It can be linked to the exploratory research purpose in empirical investigation.

  3. It is provisionally accepted as a basis for further research.

  4. It is constructed as a statement of expectations.

  5. It always proves to be correct for a successful research.
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
E Correct answer
Explanation

A working hypothesis is a hypothesis that is provisionally accepted as a basis for further research in the hope that a tenable theory will be produced, even if the hypothesis ultimately fails.

Multiple choice

Which type of research question is addressed by a methodological study?

  1. A cause and effect relationship

  2. Comparison of two treatments

  3. Exploration of factors

  4. Development and testing of research tools

  5. In depth exploration of a phenomenon
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
D Correct answer
Explanation

Methodological approach is used when the researcher is interested in developing a new research instrument or is attempting to test the validity or reliability of an already existing tool.

Multiple choice

Which of the following is the first phase of research process?

  1. Empirical phase

  2. Dissemination phase

  3. Conceptual phase

  4. Implementation phase

  5. Registration phase
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Conceptual phase involves identification and conceptualization of the research problem and thus is the first phase of research process.