1.

2 Multiple choice questions

Now test your understanding of what this section has covered so far. If you need further
information to help you find the correct answer, use an internet search engine to search
for ‘Market Research’.

The following multiple choice questions should take approximately 10 minutes to

complete.

Question 1
What does quantitative research measures?

 (a) Feelings and opinions

 (b) Numbers and figures

 (c) Numbers and feelings

Hide answer

Answer
Quantitative research measures:

 (b) Numbers and figures

Question 2
Quantitative research only works if:

 (a) You talk to the right number of people

 (b) You talk to the right type of people

 (c) You ask the right questions and analyse the data you get in the right way

Hide answer

Answer
The correct answer is a, b and c:

 Quantitative research only works if: you talk to the right number of people; you
talk to the right type of people; and if you ask the right questions and analyse the
data you get in the right way.
Question 3
What methods can be used to get the research information needed?

 (a) By talking to people, either in person or on the phone

 (b) By using the post and getting people to fill in questionnaires and send them
back to you

 (c) By filling in some questionnaires yourself in the way you think your target
audience would fill them out

Hide answer

Answer
Research information can be gained:

 (a) By talking to people, either in person or on the phone

 and also

 (b) By using the post and getting people to fill in questionnaires and send them
back to you

Question 4
Which of the following is an example of random sampling techniques?

 (a) Taking the name of every person in a telephone book

 (b) Generating a list of numbers by picking numbers out of a hat and matching
these numbers to names in the telephone book

 (c) Taking every tenth or twentieth name from a list of everybody in the telephone
book

Hide answer

Answer
An example of random sampling techniques is:

 (b) Generating a list of numbers by picking numbers out of a hat and matching
these numbers to names in the telephone book
Question 5
If the people whose views you need are, for example, all under 50 years old, both men
and women, and all have children under 11, then the interviewers will be asked to find
and interview people of the same type. When they have finished interviewing you will
have [a sample] – a set of [respondents] – all of whom are under 50, half of whom are
women, and all of whom have children under 11. It will be a small simmering-down, [a
cross-section], of all the people you’re interested in.

What kind of sampling does this example use?

 (a) Random sampling

 (b) Systematic sampling

 (c) Quota sampling

Hide answer

Answer
This is an example of:

 (c) Quota sampling

Question 6
Match the statement to the definition:

Statements

 (a) Where the costs of contacting the respondents are shared by several clients
who all have questions included in a single survey.

 (b) A way of getting the views of a cross-section of people when there is

something that the people need to see – perhaps a new sort of packaging, or the
plans for a new traffic flow or parking system. Respondents are recruited in the
street and invited into the hall, often a church hall or a hotel room, to see the exhibit
and be asked questions about it.

 (c) Useful information can sometimes be obtained simply from watching what
people do. Do they find it easy to move round the shop or showroom and, if not,
where are the problems? Are there any parts of the display – of cars, books, food,
or whatever – that people seem to miss? Do they have difficulty finding what
they’re looking for?
 Headings

 (a) Observation

 (b) Omnibus

 (c) Halls test

Hide answer

Answer
The correct matches are:

 (a) and (b) Omnibus: Where the costs of contacting the respondents are shared
by several clients who all have questions included in a single survey.

 (b) and (c) Halls test: A way of getting the views of a cross-section of people
when there is something that the people need to see – perhaps a new sort of
packaging, or the plans for a new traffic flow or parking system. Respondents are
recruited in the street and invited into the hall, often a church hall or a hotel room,
to see the exhibit and be asked questions about it.

 (c) and (a) Observation: Useful information can sometimes be obtained simply
from watching what people do. Do they find it easy to move round the shop or
showroom and, if not, where are the problems? Are there any parts of the display –
of cars, books, food, or whatever – that people seem to miss? Do they have
difficulty finding what they’re looking for?

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 Chapter 18: Multiple choice questions

Chapter 18: Multiple choice questions

Instructions
Answer the following questions and then press 'Submit' to get your score.

Question 1

Probability sampling is rarely used in qualitative research because:

a) Qualitative researchers are not trained in statistics

b) It is very old-fashioned
c) It is often not feasible

d) Research questions are more important than sampling

Question 2

The two levels of sampling used by Savage et al. (2005) for the Manchester study were:

a) Random and purposive

b) Convenience and snowball
c) Statistical and non-statistical

d) Contexts and participants

Question 3

Which of the following is not a type of purposive sampling?

a) Probability sampling
b) Deviant case sampling
c) Theoretical sampling

d) Snowball sampling
Question 4

What is involved in "purposive sampling" for grounded theory?

 a) Using a random numbers table to select a representative sample of people
b) Strategically selecting respondents who are likely to provide relevant data
c) Deciding on a sampling strategy early on and pursuing it relentlessly

d) Sampling units of time rather than individual persons

Question 5

What is meant by the term "theoretical saturation"?

a) Deciding on a theory and then testing it repeatedly

b) The point at which a concept is so well developed that no further data
collection is necessary
c) The problem of having used too many theories in one's data analysis

d) A state of frustration caused by having used every possible statistical test
without finding any significant results
Question 6

Generic purposive sampling can be characterized as being:

a) Fixed and a priori

b) Fixed and ad-hoc
c) Contingent and post-hoc

d) Contingent and ad infinitum

Question 7

The minimum sample size for qualitative interviewing is:

a) 30
b) 31
c) 60

d) It's hard to say

Question 8
 Why is an ethnographic study unlikely to use a probability sample?

a) Because the aim of understanding is more important than that of generalization

b) Because the researcher cannot control who is willing to talk to them
c) Because it is difficult to identify a sampling frame

d) All of the above

Question 9

Apart from people, what else can purposive sampling be used for?

a) Documents
b) Timing of events
c) Context

d) All of the above

Question 10

What can be generalized from a purposive sample?

a) That the findings are true for broadly similar cases

b) That the findings are true for the entire population
c) That the opposite is true for people who are the opposite of those in the sample

d) That purposive sampling is better than probability sampling

Subm it m y a ns we rs Cle a r m y a ns we rs
 
Results
You have answered 0 out of 10 questions correctly.
Your percentage score is 0%.
Question 1

Probability sampling is rarely used in qualitative research because:

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
 c) It is often not feasible
Feedback:
Quantitative research is concerned with quantities and frequencies of occurrence in the
general population, so the study sample must be representative. In qualitative research it can
often "be impossible to map the population from which a random sample might be taken"
(p416), making probability sampling infeasible. Qualitative researchers may well be familiar
with statistical techniques but that is hardly the point. It is true that certain types of
qualitative research emphasize the importance of developing research questions during
research, adding to the sample from time to time. Sampling remains important for all types of
research, however.
Page reference: 408
Question 2

The two levels of sampling used by Savage et al. (2005) for the Manchester study were:

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
d) Contexts and participants
Feedback:
Bryman reports (p409) on the study by Savage et al. (2005) in his discussion on sampling
levels. The main point is that we may not get the information we want from a single attempt
at sampling. The study's authors picked Manchester as a typical case, then four residential
areas within the Manchester area. Next they used a quasi-random method for selecting
households within each area. Answer (d) is therefore correct. They did use the electoral
register as a sampling frame, so there was an element of statistics and randomness in their
approach. Were answers (a) and (c) inverted (to purposive and random, for example), they
would not be totally inaccurate.
Page reference: 409
Question 3

Which of the following is not a type of purposive sampling?

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
a) Probability sampling
Feedback:
Bryman draws from the work of Patton (1990) and Palys (2008) to produce a list of
prominent types of purposive sampling, including answers (b), (c) and (d). The whole point
 of purposive sampling is that it is not probability sampling. The aim is to recruit people to
the sample because of particular characteristics they have, rather than for their (possibly
unlikely) ability to represent the entire population.
Page reference: 409, Key concept 18.2
Question 4

What is involved in "purposive sampling" for grounded theory?

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
b) Strategically selecting respondents who are likely to provide relevant data
Feedback:
Qualitative researchers often use purposive samples rather than random, probability samples,
in order to develop a grounded theory. This typically involves selecting additional
participants on the basis of the ideas and concepts that emerge as the project progresses, and
it ensures that the researcher gathers data that is relevant to their research questions.
Consequently, it is better to start out by choosing members of a sample "purposely",
deliberately, in other words, rather than randomly.
Page reference: 410-412
Question 5

What is meant by the term "theoretical saturation"?

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
b) The point at which a concept is so well developed that no further data collection is
necessary
Feedback:
This term relates to Glaser & Strauss's (1967, cited on page 410) grounded theory, in which
the aim is to allow concepts to emerge gradually from the data. Theoretical sampling
involves collecting more and more data to refine one's theory until no more new ideas
emerge; this is called the theoretical saturation point. Strauss & Corbin (1998, cited in Key
concept 18.3 on page 411) show how saturation can be reached at the levels of concept,
category and relationships between categories.
Page reference: 410-412, Key concept 18.4
Question 6

Generic purposive sampling can be characterized as being:

 You did not answer the question.
Correct answer:
a) Fixed and a priori
Feedback:
The very nature of purposive sampling makes it relatively free from fixed constraints but we
use the terms "fixed" and "contingent" to refer to sampling on a once-off basis or conducted
sequentially. Similarly, "a priori' and "contingent" refer to the terms we use for criteria for
sample selection - being determined in advance, or changing as the research progresses.
Bryman uses the label of 'generic purposive sampling' to refer to sampling done purposively
but not (necessarily) in order to generate theory. This means that generic purposive sampling
remains 'purposive' but will mostly be fixed rather than sequential and the criteria will be set
'a priori' (at the outset) rather than being contingent on data gathered.
Page reference: 412-414
Question 7

The minimum sample size for qualitative interviewing is:

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
d) It's hard to say
Feedback:
Trying to figure out the 'right' number of people to interview is almost impossible in
theoretical sampling - who can say in advance when the point of theoretical saturation will be
reached? On the other hand, if the objective of the research is to make comparisons, then a
minimum number should be established. Warren (2002, cited on page 416) says that
publishers (and we add: dissertation assessors!) are unlikely to be impressed with a number
less than twenty. Bryman (p418) recommends concentrating on your reasons for using a
particular sampling strategy and then explaining why you feel a particular sample size is
justified. The very nature of qualitative research obliges us to give answer (d) as correct,
even though it may not be very helpful!
Page reference: 416-418
Question 8

Why is an ethnographic study unlikely to use a probability sample?

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
d) All of the above
 Feedback:
Ethnographic research tends to rely on convenience or snowball sampling, because the
ethnographer can only glean information from whoever is prepared to talk to them. The
shifting population of such groups also makes it difficult to map out the sampling frame from
which a probability sample could be selected. However, as a qualitative research design, it is
generally seen as more important for this technique to lead to interpretive understanding than
to statistical generalisation.
Page reference: 418
Question 9

Apart from people, what else can purposive sampling be used for?

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
d) All of the above
Feedback:
The principles of purposive sampling can be applied to documents in the sense that we will
select for our sample those that satisfy certain criteria relevant to our research questions.
Because of the practical problems encountered in ethnography, there is a need to sample for
observations at different time periods. Equally, observation studies need to be clear about
how behaviour may change in different circumstances. Since this is not probability sampling,
we are free to pick and choose, as it were, between contextual issues. We just need to stay
consistent with our research questions.
Page reference: 418
Question 10

What can be generalized from a purposive sample?

You did not answer the question.

Correct answer:
a) That the findings are true for broadly similar cases
Feedback:
The big problem for many researchers is that very little can be generalized from findings
emerging from purposive samples. This approach to sampling is done, after all, because a
probability sample may not be feasible or appropriate. So generalizability, or the lack of it, is
bound into the definition of sampling type. Onwuegbuzie and Leech (2010, cited on page
418) point out, however, that it is possible to generalize from one case to another that is
broadly similar. We are cautioned not to make claims for our data that cannot be supported
by our research methods.
Page reference: 416-418