Research methodology MCQ Quiz - Objective Question with Answer for Research methodology - Download Free PDF

The correct answer is ​2 and 3 Only

Key Points

•  The conventional history about the great deeds of the ruling classes received further boost from the great tradition of political and administrative historiography developed by Ranke and his followers. The history from below was an attempt to write the history of the common people
• It is optimistic in tone and is future-oriented
• It celebrates the spirit of modernity and the benefits of capitalism and material progress
• It is critical of the pre-modern period which it considers synonymous with superstition and warfare. There fore statement 1 is incorrect
• In short, History from below seeks to take as its subjects ordinary people, and concentrate on their experiences and perspectives, contrasting itself with the stereotype of traditional political history and its focus on the actions of 'great men'.

The correct answer is Local History

Key Points

• Local history is a range of historical writings focusing on specific, geographically small areas, frequently produced by non-professional historians for a nonacademic audience
• It is the study of history in a geographically bounded area such as a region, a state, a county, a city, a town, a village, or a neighborhood. This guide focuses on resources available at the Library of Congress and online

Additional Information

• Microhistory is a genre of history that focuses on small units of research, such as an event, community, individual, or settlement.
• Oral history is a method of conducting historical research through recorded interviews between a narrator with personal experience of historically significant events and a well-informed interviewer, intending to add to the historical record.
• Macrohistory seeks out large, long-term trends in world history in search of ultimate patterns by a comparison of proximate details. It favors a comparative or world-historical perspective to determine the roots of changes as well as the developmental paths of society or a historical process.

The correct answer is 1-b, 2-d, 3-c, 4-a

Key Points

•  Anant Sadashiv Altekar was a historian, archaeologist, and numismatist from Maharashtra, India. He was the Manindra Chandra Nandy's Professor and Head of the Department of Ancient Indian History and Culture at Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, India.
• Rise and Fall of the Mughal Empire by R P Tripathi: This book is mostly the military history of the Mughals, their campaigns, and how they won over half of India. It doesn't mention what the Mughal court was like, their language how they adapted to Indian conditions, and their savagery toward Hindus
• A short history of Akbar the Great by A L Srivastava: An authoritative history of Akbar's reign in three volumes.
• History of Bengal by J N Sarkar

The correct answer is 1 and 2 Only

Key Points

 Annales school of thought

• Annales school, School of history. Established by Lucien Febvre (1878–1956) and Marc Bloch (1886–1944), its roots were in the journal Annales: économies, sociétés, civilisations, Febvre's reconstituted version of a journal he had earlier formed with Marc Bloch . Hence, Statement 3 Founded by Lucien Febvre and Antonio Gramsci is not true.
• Gramsci is best known for his theory of cultural hegemony, which describes how the state and ruling capitalist class — the bourgeoisie — use cultural institutions to maintain power in capitalist societies.
• According to this school of thought, the emphasis is on social history, and very long-term trends, often using quantification and paying special attention to geography and to the intellectual world view of common people, or "mentality" (mentalité). Little attention is paid to political, diplomatic, or military history, or to biographies of famous men.
• It opposed to the legacy of Positivism as well as Marxism

The correct answer is David McLellan

Key Points

•  Karl Marx: His Life and Thought is a 1973 biography of Karl Marx by the political scientist David McLellan. The work was republished as Karl Marx: A Biography in 1995.
• David McLellan is an English scholar of Marxism. He has written extensively on the thought of Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels and Simone Weil

Additional Information

•  Robert "Robin" Page Arnot, best known as R. Page Arnot, was a British Communist journalist and politician.
• Jordi Arquer was a Spanish communist politician and writer from Catalonia
• Jaafar Aksikas is a Moroccan-born American academic, activist, media personality and cultural critic. 

Research is a systematic inquiry towards understanding a complex social phenomenon or a process. They are broadly categorized into qualitative and quantitative research. Based on the research problem, the selection of research methods by the researcher may vary.
Key Points

Positivistic Research Paradigm:

A research paradigm is a research model or a perceptual orientation for conducting research that has been verified by the research community.

• Emphasizes quantitative analysis over qualitative analysis
• Relies heavily on experimentation
• Subscribes to pre-existing categories
• Hypotheses are put forward about the causal relation between phenomena
• Empirical evidence is gathered and analysed that explains the effect of the independent variable on the dependent variable
• Employs a deductive approach to analyse data
• Collects numerical data

Important Points

Features of Qualitative Research:

• The objective is to explore a phenomenon to gain understanding by diving deeper into the problem
• Used qualitative methods of data collection such as interviews, focus groups, observation, etc.
• The sample size is kept small
• Believes in interpretivism paradigm and disregards the positivist assumptions and statistical data analysis
• Inductive reasoning is employe where things are observed, a pattern is developed and then the theory is formed
• The conclusions are descriptive rather than predictive.

Hence, it is clear from the given points that qualitative research avoids positivist assumptions and data analysis.

the most appropriate answer is (B), (C), (D) only.

Important Points

Case study method:

• The case study method is known for its particularistic approach, meaning it focuses on a specific case or situation.
• It is also descriptive in nature, providing detailed information about the case.
• The case study method is also considered to be inductive, as it involves drawing conclusions based on observations and evidence.

Case study:

• A case in a case study research could be an individual, organization, or institution.
• It is concerned with the in-depth study of a singular case (one person) from various possible angles for the sake of promoting his/her adjustment
• It is a qualitative research method that involves investigating a contemporary research problem within its real-life context by making use of multiple sources of data.
• It seeks to explore an area regarding which there is little understanding or prior knowledge.
• The data sources in a case study include data regarding the family and educational background and the primary data collection methods employed are observation and conducting interviews.     ​

Key Points

The case study method in research is a qualitative approach that involves the in-depth examination of a specific case or situation. It is used to gain a deeper understanding of a particular phenomenon. Some key points about the case study method include:

• Particularistic: The case study method focuses on a specific case or situation, rather than trying to generalize to a larger population.

• Descriptive: The case study provides a detailed description of the case, including relevant background information, context, and relevant data.

• Inductive: The case study method is inductive in nature, meaning that it involves drawing conclusions based on observations and evidence.

• Flexible: The case study method is flexible, allowing the researcher to gather a wide range of data, including interviews, observations, and documents.

• Multiple sources of evidence: The case study method often involves collecting data from multiple sources, including the subjects of the study, witnesses, and relevant documents.

• Interpretive: The case study method requires an interpretive approach, as the researcher must analyze and interpret the data collected.

Research methodology refers to the techniques used to find and analyze information for a study, ensuring that the results are valid and reliable and that they address the research objective. It is the theoretical paradigm for data collection, analysis, and interpretation.

Important PointsResearch Methodology:

• Research methodology is a way of explaining how a researcher intends to carry out their research.
• It's a logical, systematic plan to resolve a research problem.
• A methodology details a researcher's approach to the research to ensure reliable, valid results that address their aims and objectives.
• It encompasses what data they're going to collect and where from, as well as how it's being collected and analyzed.

​​Therefore, the term "research methodology" refers to the methods used in data collection and analysis.

Additional Information

For example, steps involved in research methodology by the researcher.

• What data to collect (and what data to ignore)
• Who to collect it from (in research, this is called “sampling design”)
• How to collect it (this is called “data collection methods”)
• How to analyze it (this is called “data analysis methods”)

An experimental method of research is a type of study in which the researcher speculates on the possible reasons for a previously observed result.

Key Points

Experimental research:

• The experimental method involves manipulating one variable to determine if changes in one variable cause changes in another variable.
• This method relies on controlled methods, random assignment, and the manipulation of variables to test a hypothesis.
• The experimental method under which the researcher can directly modify the independent variable(s) (that is, the cause) in an experimental study to see how it affects the dependent variable (that is, the effect).

Therefore, Experimental method research methods, the process of hypothesis testing optimally safeguards the role of extraneous variables. 

Additional Information

• Both experimental and ex-post facto research attempt to study links between existent variables and their conclusions are logically as well as empirically valid and accurate, but there is various difference between them.
• Ex post facto research is undertaken when a researcher wishes to investigate the cause of an event that has already occurred as an outcome of the cause.
• The phrase historical method refers to a set of strategies and rules used by historians in their investigation and writing of past histories.
• Descriptive Survey Research is a type of descriptive research that combines quantitative and qualitative data to give you reliable and relevant facts. 

Validity is one of the important characteristics of scientific research. The term ‘Validity’ implies truth or fidelity. Thus, validity refers to the degree to which a test measures what it claims to measure. The word "valid" is derived from the Latin ‘validus’. A Valid measurement is always reliable.

• For determining the validity of a test, the test should be compared to another independent construct or criteria. 
• Validity is concerned with generalizability. 
• Validity has three important properties:
  • It is a relative term.
  • It is not a fixed concept or criteria of a test because it is an unending process that requires constant validation.
  • It is just a measure concept and not an all-or-none property.

Important Points

A research design is a framework for the methods and approaches. 

Key Points

• Experimental research is a study that is based on scientific research design.
• The characteristic features of Experimental research are the following: 
  • A purpose statement is a declarative statement that highlights the major goal or goals of a research study.
  • The goal of a study or research endeavor is to answer research questions on the topic.
  • A hypothesis is a statement that expresses expectations for the results of research.
  • After developing a hypothesis then collect numeric data. 
• In short, developing clear, restricted, measurable, and observable purpose statements, research questions and hypotheses are characteristic features of experimental research.
• Experimental research is a study that uses two sets of variables and is conducted in a scientific manner.

Thus, creating purpose statements, research questions, and hypotheses that are narrow and measurable would mark the characteristic features of Experimental research.

Additional Information

• Grounded theory research: Grounded theory is a systematic approach to qualitative research where theories are generated through the collecting and analysis of data.
• Ethnographic research:   Ethnography is a qualitative data collection method and the researcher work in the field where they collect data through observations and interviews. 
• Narrative research:  It was defined as collecting and analyzing the accounts of respondents when they describe experiences and further interpret them. 

Qualitative research is research using methods such as participant observation or case studies which result in a narrative, descriptive account of a setting or practice. Sociologists using these methods typically reject positivism and adopt a form of interpretive sociology.

Important Points

• Qualitative research aims to study things in their natural setting to make sense of a phenomenon in terms of meanings people bring to them.
• It doesn't involve any form of intervention or a method to manipulate the studied environment.
• Qualitative research uses observation as the data collection method. Observation is the selection and recording of behaviors of people in their environment.
• It aims to describe variation, explain relationships, describe behaviour, experiences and norms of individuals and groups.
• Qualitative research help the researchers to use thick description, meaning thereby that, since the data collected by the participants involve the responses, experiences, interpretations, phenomena and rituals they follow. The description of the events, processes, phenomena, the interview and discussion with the participants should be thoroughly mentioned by the researcher. Thus, the qualitative research involves thick description, which includes the clear description of the culture, context, process and steps of research which helps in construction of reality and analysis of research.
• Qualitative research is  interested in understanding the meaning people have constructed, that is, how people make sense of their world and the experiences they have in the world.   

Thus, Understanding, exploration, and Interpretation terms best indicate the intent of qualitative research.

Qualitative research is research using methods such as participant observation or case studies that result in a narrative, descriptive account of a setting or practice.

Key points

The main features of qualitative research are: 

• It is a naturalist approach that seeks an understanding of social phenomena.
• It deals with human behavior from an informant's perspective.  
• This type of research analyzes non-numeric data. 
• It focuses on the ‘why and what’ of social phenomena.
• Inductive in approach.
• It has a Post Positivist approach.
• It is concerned with understanding the phenomena from the participant's perspective.
• The researcher becomes immersed in the situation, present or past.
• There is greater flexibility in both the methods and the research process.
• Biases of the researcher are quite evident in this type of research.

Hence, (A), (C), and (E) are the main features of qualitative research.

Additional Information

According to the American sociologist Earl Robert Babbie, “research is a systematic inquiry to describe, explain, predict, and control the observed phenomenon. It involves inductive and deductive methods.”

Research is a systematic inquiry towards understanding a complex social phenomenon or a process. Based on the research problem, the selection of research methods by the researcher may vary. There are two types of research on the basis of a process i.e Quantitative research and Qualitative research.

​Ethnographic Research:

• The goal of ethnographic research is to describe and interpret a cultural or social group.
• Ethnographers spend extensive time in the setting being studied and use observations, interviews, and other analyses to understand the nature of the culture. 
• Ethnography is an in-depth description and interpretation of cultural patterns and meanings within a culture or social group.  The main emphasis is on groups. 
• Ethnographers study specific cultural themes.

Phenomenological Research:

• ​The goal of phenomenological research is to fully understand the essence of some phenomenon. 
• This is usually accomplished with long, intensive individual interviews. 
• The purpose is to describe and interpret the experiences of participants in order to understand the essence of the experience as perceived by the participants. 
• The basis is that there are multiple ways of interpreting the same experience and that the meaning of the experience to each participant is what constitutes reality. 
• Focuses on the consciousness of human experiences.

Thus, the most appropriate answer is Ethnography and phenomenology.