Chapter 02

Instructions

Choose your answers from a-d by clicking the radio button next to each choice and then press
'Submit' to get your score.

Question 01

Internal validity relates to:

a) whether the measure really represents

the concept under research.

b) whether the results of a study can be

generalised to other contexts.

c) whether findings are applicable to

natural social settings.

d) whether the independent variable is

responsible for the variation in the dependent
variable.
Question 02

According to Lincoln & Guba (1985) which of

the following is not a way of assessing the
trustworthiness of qualitative research?

a) Dependability.

b) Accessibility.

c) Transferability.

d) Credibility.
Question 03

Research questions are crucial because they

will:

a) guide your decisions about what data

to collect and from where.

b) help you decide which research area

interests you.

c) ensure that your findings have external

validity.
 d) prevent you from thinking about
research strategies.
Question 04

Which of the following is a threat to the

internal validity of an experimental design?

a) Maturation.

b) Interaction of setting and treatment.

c) Interaction effects of pre-testing.

d) Reactive effects of experimental

arrangements.
Question 05

A cross-sectional research design:

a) allows for data collection over a

substantial period of time.

b) is commonly used for collection of

qualitative data.

c) allows for data in connection with two

or more variables to be collected.

d) is typically strong in internal validity.

Question 06

Which of the following can be achieved by a

longitudinal research design?

a) Mapping of change in an organization.

b) The change in employment relations

over a number of years.

c) The experiences of employees who

begin work on the same day.

d) All of the above.

Question 07

Which of the following types of cases is the

most common within business and
management research?
 a) Single organization.

b) A person.

c) Single event.

d) Single location.
Question 08

Multiple case study design can be criticised

because:

a) the researcher will collect too much

data.

b) the researcher pays less attention to

specific context.

c) it costs too much money.

d) it takes too much time.

Question 09

The 'Hawthorne Effect' refers to:

a) the impact of heat and light on worker

productivity.

b) the development of the 'human

relations' approach to the study of work.

c) the researcher creating a bias in the

data through participation in the research
situation.

d) the psychological effect of falling into a

bush.
Question 10

The typical form of a longitudinal research

design using a qualitative strategy is:

a) qualitative content analysis of

documents relating to one specific event.

b) qualitative interviews conducted over

one week.

c) ethnographic research.

d) none of the above.

Question 1

Internal validity relates to:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
d) whether the independent variable is responsible for the variation in the dependent variable.
Feedback:
Internal validity applies when a causal relationship has been identified. It raises the question of
whether the researcher is sure that one variable is causing a change in another and that this
change has not been triggered by something else.

Question 2

According to Lincoln & Guba (1985) which of the following is not a way of assessing the
trustworthiness of qualitative research?

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
b) Accessibility.
Feedback:
Many authors argue that qualitative research cannot be assessed in the same way as quantitative
research. The fourth way that Lincoln & Guba (1985) suggest we can assess trustworthiness is
confirmability.

Question 3

Research questions are crucial because they will:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
a) guide your decisions about what data to collect and from where.
Feedback:
Without clear research questions you will be unsure of what your research is about and what data
you should be collecting.

Question 4
 Which of the following is a threat to the internal validity of an experimental design?

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
a) Maturation.
Feedback:
Maturation is the term given to the impact that natural changes in the participants may have on
the dependent variable. b, c and d are threats to the external validity of an experimental research
design.

Question 5

A cross-sectional research design:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
c) allows for data in connection with two or more variables to be collected.
Feedback:
Cross-sectional research design is often called social survey design. It usually allows for data on
many more than two variables to be collected in order to detect patterns of association.

Question 6

Which of the following can be achieved by a longitudinal research design?

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
d) All of the above.
Feedback:
Longitudinal research designs are usually an extension of social survey research. An excellent
example of this is the 1998 Workplace Employment Relations Survey (Cully et al:1999)

Question 7

Which of the following types of cases is the most common within business and management
research?

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
 d) Single location.
Feedback:
Case study design is usually centred around an in-depth analysis of one specific location.
Pettigrew (1985) is an example of a longitudinal case study of a whole organization.

Question 8

Multiple case study design can be criticised because:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
b) the researcher pays less attention to specific context.
Feedback:
Multiple case study design has been criticised by Dyer & Wilkins (1991) who argue that it leads to
a focus on contrasts between cases rather than the specific context of each individual case.

Question 9

The 'Hawthorne Effect' refers to:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
c) the researcher creating a bias in the data through participation in the research situation.
Feedback:
The Hawthorne experiments (Roethlisberger & Dickson:1939) are an example of the impact that
the researcher and the actual research can have on the subjects.

Question 10

The typical form of a longitudinal research design using a qualitative strategy is:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
c) ethnographic research.
Feedback:
Ethnographic research is usually conducted over a long period of time so can often be said to
adopt a longitudinal design.

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