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

The Cyclical Theory of History proposes that civilizations, like living organisms, go through a predictable cycle of birth, growth, maturity, decline, and ultimately, death. This theory stands in contrast to the more linear view of history as constant progress

Key Points

• (a) Stages of Growth and Decline: Spengler argued that cultures, like living organisms, go through predictable stages: spring (youth), summer (maturity), autumn (decline), and winter (death). Each culture has its unique character and artistic expression, reaching a peak before inevitably declining.
• (b) Decline of Western Civilization: Spengler wrote after experiencing the horrors of World War I. He saw Western Civilization as having reached its peak and entering a period of cultural and spiritual decline, marked by materialism, imperialism, and social unrest.
• (c) No Rebirth for Cultures: Unlike some cyclical theories, Spengler did not believe cultures could be reborn. He viewed them as closed systems that rise and fall independently, with no possibility of renewal.

Additional Information

•  (d) Technology and Economics: Spengler's theory focused more on cultural and artistic expressions as markers of a civilization's trajectory. While acknowledging technology, he didn't see it as the primary driver of historical change.

The correct answer is (a), (b), (c), and (d).
Key Points

Recent Indian historiography has witnessed a significant expansion in scope and methodology. All the statements highlight these exciting trends:

• (a) Environmental History:  This is a growing field that examines how humans have interacted with and shaped their environment over time. It explores issues like deforestation, resource management, and the impact of climate change on Indian history.
• (b) Digital Tools and Methodologies: Historians are increasingly utilizing digital tools for data analysis, text mining, historical GIS mapping, and creating online archives. This allows for more complex analysis, visualization of historical patterns, and wider public access to historical materials.
• (c) Emotions and Subjective Experiences: Historians are exploring the role of emotions like fear, anger, or joy in shaping historical events. They also examine personal narratives, diaries, and oral histories to capture subjective experiences of the past, moving beyond purely structural or economic analyses.
• (d) Marginalized Communities:  There's a renewed interest in the history of marginalized communities like women, Dalits, Adivasis, and religious minorities. Historians are using various sources, including oral traditions and local archives, to reconstruct their experiences and contributions to Indian history.

Key Points

• a) Complex Causation: Historical events are rarely caused by a single factor. Underlying social, economic, political, and cultural forces often contribute in a complex interplay. Historians must consider this complexity when analyzing causes.
• (b) Imagination and Reconstruction: The historical record is often incomplete, with gaps and silences. Historians use their imagination to bridge these gaps by drawing on relevant evidence from various sources and considering the context of the events. This allows them to create a plausible reconstruction of the past.

Additional Information

• (c) Imagination Constrained by Evidence: While imagination plays a role, it is not unfettered. Historians must base their interpretations on evidence from sources like documents, artifacts, archaeology, and even oral traditions when available. Fabricated narratives violate the core principles of historical inquiry.
• (d) Multiple Interpretations: There can be multiple valid interpretations of historical events due to the complexity of causes and the limitations of the historical record. A single narrative may not capture the full picture.

Key Points

• Critical Methodology: Herodotus stands out for his developing a more critical approach to historical inquiry.
• He compared different accounts, acknowledged the limitations of oral traditions, and even visited places he wrote about to verify information. Logographers, on the other hand, generally lacked this level of critical analysis.

Additional Information

• Extensive use of oral traditions and myths: Both logographers and Herodotus relied heavily on oral traditions and myths. While Herodotus might have been more critical in his use of them, the reliance on such sources was a common feature.
• Focus on a single, unifying theme or chronological narrative: While some logographers might have focused on specific regions or topics, others did attempt chronological narratives. Herodotus, however, is known for weaving diverse elements into a grand narrative of the Greco-Persian Wars.
• Emphasis on political and military history: Both logographers and Herodotus were interested in political and military history.

Key Points

• Scientific Method and Objectivity: The "positive" school, exemplified by Leopold von Ranke, emphasized applying scientific methods to historical research. They aimed for objectivity and a focus on primary sources like documents and official records.
• Reaction to Romanticism and Idealism: This movement arose as a reaction to earlier trends in historical writing, particularly Romanticism, which often relied on emotions, intuition, and philosophical interpretations of the past. They saw this approach as subjective and unscientific
• Emphasis on Critical Source Analysis: "Positive" historians valued rigorous source criticism to verify the accuracy and authenticity of historical documents. They aimed to establish a set of methodologies for historical research to ensure reliable conclusions.

Additional Information

• Increased emphasis on social and economic forces: The "positive" school actually embraced this trend, aiming to apply scientific methods to analyze these forces.
• Focus on the role of great individuals and heroic deeds: While not the sole focus, some "positive" historians found inspiration in this approach, attempting to verify details surrounding historical figures.
• Growing interest in the history of everyday life and popular culture: This development largely occurred later, in the 20th century, with the rise of social history and cultural studies.

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 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.

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.

Important Points

• Grounded theory is a systematic methodology that has been largely applied to qualitative research conducted by social scientists.
• The methodology involves the construction of hypotheses and theories through the collecting and analysis of data.
• The grounded theory involves the application of inductive reasoning.
• The methodology contrasts with the hypothetico-deductive model used in traditional scientific research.
• A study based on grounded theory is likely, to begin with, a question, or even just with the collection of qualitative data.
• As researchers review the data collected, ideas or concepts become apparent to the researchers. These ideas/concepts are said to "emerge" from the data.

Hence Grounded theory research is an example of qualitative research.

Additional Information

• Experimental research is a study that strictly adheres to a scientific research design.
  • ​It includes a hypothesis, a variable that can be manipulated by the researcher, and variables that can be measured, calculated, and compared.
• Ex post facto study or after-the-fact research is a category of research design in which the investigation starts after the fact has occurred without interference from the researcher.
• A Descriptive Survey Research is an approach of Descriptive Research that blends quantitative and qualitative data to provide the researcher with relevant and accurate information.