Practice questions to test yourself while studying The Practice of Social Research by Babbie

How are human inquiry and science conducted? - ExamTickets 1

• One of the central points of this chapter is that in social research, scientists have to accept an agreement reality.
• Make sure to study the different ways in which errors in inquiry can be made. Formulate day-to-day examples of these inquiry errors.
• Make a list of the important foundations within social research (independent variable, dependent variable, attribute, idiographic vs. nomothetic explanations, inductive vs. deductive theories, et cetera).

How are paradigms and theories used within the field of social research? - ExamTickets 2

• Make sure you recognise the difference between deduction and induction. Formulate examples of inductive theory construction and deductive theory construction.
• Make an overview of the important paradigms that guide contemporary social research. List in bullet points what the paradigm entails and which researchers have contributed to it.
• To study the central elements of social theories, formulate an exemplary research in which you incorporate the important key terms (observations, facts, laws, theories, concepts, variables, axioms or postulates, propositions and hypotheses).

In what way do ethics and politics play a role within the field of social research? - ExamTickets 3

• Study the contents and the reasons for controversiality of the Humphrey and Milgram studies.
• Make sure you can make a distinction between anonymity and confidentiality.
• Make a list of bullet points of the important obligations of researchers in terms of ensuring good research ethics (such as informed consent, training in ethical responsibilities, plagiarism, et cetera).

How are research projects designed? - ExamTickets 4

• Write down examples of idiographic and nomothetic research designs to clarify the difference between the two.
• Make sure you memorise the three criteria for causation.
• Write down examples of different research designs that are different in terms of their units of analysis.

How do conceptualisation, operationalisation and measurement take place? - ExamTickets 5

• Study different examples of the different possible levels of measurement (nominal, ordinal, interval and ratio variables).
• Make sure that you understand the difference between reliability and validity. 

How do researchers apply indexes, scales and typologies within the field of social research? - ExamTickets 6

• Make sure that you understand the difference between indexes and scales.
• Make a list of the different steps in the process of index construction. Note down the most important key terms that are associated with each of these steps.

What is the logic behind sampling? - ExamTickets 7

• Practice with the formulas that are used in the process of sampling. This helps you to be more precise in the calculations of them on the final exam.
• Make an overview of the different methods of sampling (non-probability and probability) and list the different methods that can be used for them, including a brief explanations for which you can use bullet points.
• Make sure you understand what sampling method is suitable for which type of situation and why. Write this down in the overview you made.

How do researchers conduct experiments? - ExamTickets 8

• Make an overview of the key components that are present in classical experimental designs.
• When studying this chapter, focus on the different possible sources of internal invalidity that a classical experiment guards against. Make sure you understand why a classical experimental design eliminates these problems.
• Also focus on the problem of external invalidity.

How do researchers conduct survey research? - ExamTickets 9

• For this chapter, focus especially on the advantages and disadvantages of the several different survey research methods.
• Make sure you understand the strengths and weaknesses of surveys in general, as well as secondary analysis.

How do researchers conduct qualitative field research? - ExamTickets 10

• Make sure you understand the meaning and the implications of the different paradigms that are involved in the conduction of field research.
• Focus on the different social settings in which field research can be conducted.
• Make sure you are informed about the way in which researchers have to balance between the emic and the etic perspective when conducting field research.

What does unobtrusive research entail and how is it conducted? - ExamTickets 11

• Draw an overview of the three types of unobtrusive research that were discussed in this chapter: content analysis, analysis of existing statistics, and comparative and historical research.
• List the advantages and the disadvantages of each of these methods.

How do researchers conduct evaluation research? - ExamTickets 12

• Study the different types of evaluation research designs: experimental designs, quasi-experimental designs and qualitative evaluations.
• Make sure you understand why evaluation research is rather a research purpose than a research method.
• Focus on studying social indicators research: how does it work and what is its purpose?

How is qualitative data analysis conducted? - ExamTickets 13

• Make a list of the key characteristics of the different approaches of qualitative data analysis: GTM, semiotics, and CA.
• Make another list with the characteristics of the three key tools for preparing data for analysis: coding, demoing and concept mapping.
• Make sure you study the importance of validity and reliability in relation to the quality of qualitative research.

How is quantitative data analysis conducted? - ExamTickets 14

• Make an overview of the characteristics of univariate, bivariate and multivariate analysis.
• Make a list of the different techniques for summarising data (frequency distributions, averages, grouped data, and measures of dispersion).

What is the logic behind multivariate data analysis? - ExamTickets 15

• Make a bullet point list of the steps included in the process of elaboration.
• Also study the four different outcomes of elaboration.
• Carefully study the topic of ex post facto hypothesising.

What does the practice of social statistics look like? - ExamTickets 16

• Create a three-column table in which you describe the characteristics of descriptive statistics, regression analyses, and inferential statistics.
• Familiarise yourself with the use of chi-square tests and t-tests for testing statistical significance. Make sure you understand the meaning of statistical significance.
• Also focus on the cautions that are involved with the use of each of the statistics types.

What do the processes of reading and writing look like within the field of social research? - ExamTickets 17

• For studying this chapter, it is most important to focus on the cautions researchers should be aware of in the process of reading and writing social research.