Research methods: SQA Advanced Higher Modern Studies quiz quiz

The broad purpose of a study

A testable statement, predicted from the research question, that the evidence will support or reject

A summary of the conclusions

The list from which a sample is drawn

They mean the same thing

The population is the list you sample from; the frame is everyone studied

The population is everyone the study is about; the sampling frame is the actual list from which the sample is drawn

The population is always smaller than the sampling frame

Convenience sampling

Snowball sampling

Simple random sampling

Stratified sampling

Every member of the population has a known, non-zero chance of selection

The researcher picks whoever is easiest to reach

Participants recruit other participants

The sample is always very large

A closed-question questionnaire

Official statistics

A semi-structured or unstructured interview

Content analysis

An informal reading of a few news articles

A systematic method that defines categories and counts their frequency in communication, turning qualitative material into quantitative data

A type of interview

A way of selecting a sample

They are always inaccurate

They are collected for government purposes, so categories and definitions may not fit the question and may change over time

They never cover large populations

They cannot show trends

The method accurately measures what it claims to

The findings are free of researcher bias

The method gives consistent, repeatable results so it can be replicated

The sample mirrors the population

The method actually captures the concept it claims to measure

The method can be repeated to give the same result

The study was cheap to run

The sample was very large

Using the largest possible sample

Informed consent, so participants understand the study and agree freely

Always using secondary data

Presenting findings as charts

The mean

The mode

The range

The median

Because correlation is always a coincidence

Because two variables can move together due to a third factor or chance, without one causing the other

Because causation is easier to measure

Because correlation only applies to qualitative data

Describing each source one after another

Lifting a single line from one source

Conclusions supported by evidence synthesised from across the sources, plus an overall conclusion

Writing the longest possible answer

It shows how far the evidence reaches, prevents overclaiming, and signals where confidence is high or provisional

It hides the study's weaknesses

It makes the study longer

It removes the need for a sample

Because researchers never reach conclusions

Because conclusions raise new questions and researchers loop back to refine the question, sample or method

Because every study uses the same method

Because data is only ever qualitative

Quantitative methods are always better than qualitative ones

Qualitative methods are cheaper in every case

Quantitative methods favour breadth and generalisation; qualitative methods favour depth and explanation

There is no difference between them