Week 3 + 4

Question 1

What is positivism?

Answer 1

Precise empirical observations of individual behaviour in order to discover causal laws that can be used to predict general patterns of human activity

Question 2

What does positivism produce?

Answer 2

Objective knowledge

Question 3

What is interpretivism?

Answer 3

The study of social life involves skills that are more like the skills of literary or dramatic criticism than the skills of physical scientists

Question 4

What does interpretivism produce?

Answer 4

Meaning and understanding

Question 5

Summarise quantitate data characteristics

Answer 5

Epistemological position - objectivist 
Research/subject - outsider 
Research focus - facts
Scope of findings - nomothetic 
Nature of data - numbers

Question 6

Summarise qualitative data characteristics

Answer 6

Epistemological position - constructivist 
Research/subject - insider
Research focus - meanings
Scope of findings - ideographic 
Nature of data - text

Question 7

What is personal reflexivity?

Answer 7

Acknowledging who you are and how your personal interests and values influence the research process

Question 8

How does the scope of the findings differ between quantitative and qualitative research?

Answer 8

Quantitative research regarded as nomothetic

• general laws - large groups
• law like findings that hold irrespective of time

Qualitative research regarded as ideographic

• personal, each individual is unique
• findings located in specific time period

Question 9

What is mixed methods?

Answer 9

Methodological integration - utilises strengths of both qual/quan

A pragmatic approach

Aim to gain holistic understanding of phenomenon

Question 10

What is induction and deduction?

Answer 10

Induction - identifying patterns in experience

Deduction - testing theories

Question 11

What are the different approached to mixed method design?

Answer 11

Sequential explanatory 
Sequential exploratory 
Sequential transformative 
Concurrent triangulation
Concurrent nested
Complementary

Question 12

What is a sequential explanatory approach?

Answer 12

Quan collected and analysed first and then qual
More weight to quan
Qual serves to add depth to quan
Integration occurs at interpretation stage

Question 13

What is an example of sequential explanatory collection?

Answer 13

Affective responses to various exercise intensities

Quan - emotions, arousal, RPE
- at higher intensity affective responses lower

Qual - to ascertain WHY
- perceptions of ability, feelings of control

Question 14

What is a sequential exploratory approach?

Answer 14

Gives priority to qual data
Quan data tests the emerging theories
Qual data can be used to develop quan measures and instruments

Question 15

What is an example of sequential exploratory?

Answer 15

Compare the elite sport systems and policies of different nations
After qual exploration, a conceptual model was developed
The quan stage tests this emerging model using surveys

Question 16

What is the sequential transformative approach?

Answer 16

Priority can be given to either quan or qual
Research guided by a particular theoretical perspective
Aim of the research is to create change (e.g. attitudes/policy)
Appealing to researchers who work under theoretical perspectives

Question 17

What is the concurrent triangulation approach?

Answer 17

Triangulation pioneered the use of mixed methods
Different methods used concurrently
Increased validity
The weakness of one approach addressed through the strengths of another

Question 18

What is the concurrent nested approach?

Answer 18

Researchers embed one method within another
E.g. a quan questionnaire with open qual questions
Purpose to seek information from different levels
The dominant method forms the framework for the study
Can be difficult to integrate the two models to make coherent
Can add ‘real’ life context

Question 19

What is the complementary approach?

Answer 19

Qual and quan methods measure overlapping but different measures of a phenomenon

Question 20

What is the scientific structure?

Answer 20

Title
Abstract
Lit review 
Method
Findings 
Discussion 
Conclusion

Question 21

What does the title do?

Answer 21

Tells the reader what the report is about

Question 22

What does the abstract do?

Answer 22

What they can expect to find out about

Typically 250 words

Question 23

What does the lit review do?

Answer 23

Sets the scene, sets objectives, tells how it’s relevant

Question 24

What does the method do?

Answer 24

Explains how the research was carried out

Question 25

What do the findings show?

Answer 25

The story of your data

Question 26

What does the discussion do?

Answer 26

Examines how findings relate to the question/previous research

Question 27

What does the concision do?

Answer 27

Sums up key messages and may address limitations

Question 28

What are the subsections of the method?

Answer 28

Research design
Sample/participants 
Data collection (also address issues to do with ethics)
Data analysis 
Rigour

Question 29

What are the subsections of the findings?

Answer 29

Theme title
Description of themes/sub-themes
Evidence to support theme
Analysis of the data presented

Question 30

Why should participant quotes be used?

Answer 30

Illustrate themes emerging from the data

Help explain how something happened

Can provide evidence in support of the researcher’s interpretations

Question 31

What is the general guidance about quotations?

Answer 31

Include enough text in the quoted segments so that the reader will understand what the participant was saying (e.g. context)

Tell your reader about your participant (without identifying them)

Make the quote stand out (indent, italics)

Question 32

What are vignettes?

Answer 32

Can be used as an interview aid and as a way of representing data
Used to present results results for the reader to gain a deeper sense of the participants lived experiences
- short descriptions/scenarios
- stories abut individuals/situations which make reference to important points

Question 33

What contributes to a poor write up?

Answer 33

Poor organisation
Lack of transparency 
Too much info
Too little info 
Unsupported assertions