Question 1

Historical research helps a researcher identify aspects of social life that are
A) specific to a particular point in time.
B) general across time or units.
C) hidden within a particular context.
D) narrowly defined within a particular historical context.
E) empirically specific to one unit of analysis.

Accepted Answer

B

Question 2

Describe five specific similarities between historical research and field studies.Be certain to emphasize how both approaches are firmly grounded in the interpretive approach in social science research.

Accepted Answer

-Both historical research and field research recognize that the researcher's point of view and both involve interpretation,which introduces the interpreter's location in time,place,and worldview; it recognizes that a researcher's reading of historical evidence is influenced by an awareness of the past and by living in the present.
-Both historical research and field research examine a great diversity of data,whereby the researcher becomes immersed in data to gain an empathic understanding of events and people in order to capture subjective feelings and note how everyday,ordinary activities signify important social meaning.
-Both historical and field researchers use grounded theory during the process of data collection.
-In both historical and field research,the researcher's meaning system frequently differs from that of the people he or she studies,but the researcher nevertheless tries to penetrate and understand their point of view.
-Both historical and field researchers focus on process and sequence in that they see the passage of time and process as essential to how people construct social reality.
-Generalization and theory are limited in historical and field research as is replication-neither deduces propositions or tests hypotheses in order to uncover fixed laws,and both regard replication as unrealistic because each researcher has a unique perspective and assembles a unique body of evidence.

Question 3

What are three different approaches a researcher can use when undertaking content analysis? Describe each one.

Accepted Answer

-Summative content analysis: The focus is on manifest and latent content where the appearance of words or particular content in textual material is recorded for frequency.Equal attention is paid to latent meaning and the development of codes in the data analysis process.
-Conventional content analysis: Codes are developed only during data analysis (grounded theory)and are derived from the data.Once codes are developed,patterns are detected and linkages among the codes are identified in order to generate a theory.
-Directed content analysis: It employs a deductive approach to theory where predetermined codes are derived from theory but codes are also determined during the data analysis when additional codes are added if they do not fit into the pre-existing and originally developed coding frame.

Question 4

What types of historical evidence do historical researchers draw upon? Who would have produced this evidence?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What types of historical evidence do historical...

Question 5

Which the following,according to positivists,is a weakness of historical research?
A) It helps researchers examine aspects of social life that are general across units.
B) It raises new questions and stimulates theory.
C) It exposes weaknesses in research design.
D) It is often based on a small number of cases.
E) It helps researchers develop concepts that are not specific to one culture or historical period.

Accepted Answer

Positivists believe that historical research is often based on a small number of cases, which can limit its generalizability and validity. They prefer quantitative research methods which allow for larger sample sizes and more precise measurements.

Question 6

Outline,in chronological order,each of the six steps in a historical research project.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Outline,in chronological order,each of the six steps...

Question 7

Which of the following statements is FALSE about historical research?
A) Historical researchers are flexible and adjust their initial concepts. They question or focus based on what they find in the evidence.
B) Historical researchers attempt to control bias that may arise from a point of view or perspective. They are totally neutral and objective.
C) Historical researchers often use "grounded theory."
D) Historical researchers focus on sequence and process. They tend to see social reality as constructed over time.
E) Historical researchers "translate" another culture or time period into terms that a reader can understand.

Accepted Answer

While historians strive to minimize bias and remain objective, it is impossible to be completely neutral. Historians come from different backgrounds, have different experiences, and have different perspectives, all of which can influence their research. However, historians can still strive to be aware of their biases and do their best to mitigate them.

Question 8

Which approach to qualitative content analysis identified by Hsiu-Fang and Shannon (2005)most closely resembles quantitative content analysis?
A) Conventional
B) Statistical
C) Inductive
D) Summative
E) Directed

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which approach to qualitative content analysis identified...

Question 9

What are the main emphases of historical research? What sorts of research questions does it address? What types of research is it most appropriate for?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are the main emphases of historical...

Question 10

Describe five features that are specific and unique to historical research.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe five features that are specific and...

Question 11

Which of the following is a characteristic of a distinct historical research method?
A) It focuses on the macro-level only and excludes the micro-level.
B) It tests hypotheses about precisely operationalized variables.
C) It uses a deductive approach.
D) It sees causality as contingent and uses combinational explanation.
E) None of the above.

Accepted Answer

A distinct historical research method sees causality as contingent and uses combinational explanation, which sets it apart from other research methods that may focus on macro or micro levels, use a deductive approach, or test hypotheses about operationally defined variables.

Question 12

Describe the main feature that quantitative content analysis and qualitative content analysis have in common with each other.What are the key differences between quantitative content analysis and qualitative analysis?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Describe the main feature that quantitative content...

Question 13

Why is equivalence of crucial importance in historical research? Which feature of quantitative research does the problem of equivalence most closely resemble? What specific types of equivalence should be of utmost concern to the historical researcher? How are potential problems with equivalence dealt with?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Why is equivalence of crucial importance in...

Question 14

Which one of the following features is common to both historical research and field research?
A) Historical approaches and field research try to discover universal laws about human social behaviour.
B) Both perspectives share the view that people construct meaning within structures.
C) Both approaches attempt to link the macro to micro levels of analysis of social reality.
D) Both perspectives assume that social forces shape individual behaviour.
E) Historical approaches and field research both remove the researcher's perspective from the research process.

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which one of the following features is...

Question 15

Which of the following research questions is directly applicable to historical research?
A) How do recent changes in big cities like London, Toronto, New York, and Tokyo reveal the rise of a new urban global system?
B) What was it like to live in a hamlet in a remote region of the Yukon during the Gold Rush days?
C) What is the causal relationship between gender and occupational earnings?
D) How do residents feel about recent episodes of vandalism in their neighbourhood?
E) How do members of the Amish community in the Kitchener-Waterloo region engage in helping behaviour?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Which of the following research questions is...

Question 16

In relation to primary sources,what two criteria does a historical researcher use in order to evaluate documents and other sources? Briefly describe this evaluation process and the kinds of issues that each mode of evaluation is concerned with.

Accepted Answer

The answer of In relation to primary sources,what two criteria...

Question 17

Students often use the labels "qualitative content analysis" and "discourse analysis" interchangeably,but they pertain to distinct practices.What is discourse analysis and what makes it unique?

Accepted Answer

The answer of Students often use the labels "qualitative content...

Question 18

What are some problems that the historical researcher confronts when dealing with narrative history (accounts of the past written by historians)?

Accepted Answer

The answer of What are some problems that the historical...

Question 19

In culture A,teachers' primary role is to provide intellectual training for a fee.In culture B,teachers are community members who provide informal instruction to young persons,especially with regards to moral matters.However,when writing a book on teachers,Emit Elliot claims teachers in culture B perform the same function as teachers in culture A.What mistake is Emit making?
A) µistake of contextual generalizability
B) Mistake of conceptual generalizability
C) Mistake of historical compatibility
D) Mistake of contextual equivalence
E) Mistake of conceptual equivalence

Accepted Answer

The answer of In culture A,teachers' primary role is to...

Question 20

Professor Regina Aniger is in an archive,gathering evidence on a group of elite male politicians and governors in the 1770s for a book she is writing on how political conflict shaped the West.She discovers that all the existing evidence and documents about them ignore the roles of commoners.What does this missing information refer to?
A) Strangeness
B) Primary data
C) Synthesis
D) Missing cases
E) Silences

Accepted Answer

The missing information refers to "silences" as the existing evidence and documents ignore the roles of commoners.

Quiz 14: Nonreactive Qualitative Research

Historical research helps a researcher identify aspects of social life that are

Describe five specific similarities between historical research and field studies.Be certain to emphasize how both approaches are firmly grounded in the interpretive approach in social science research.

What are three different approaches a researcher can use when undertaking content analysis? Describe each one.

What types of historical evidence do historical researchers draw upon? Who would have produced this evidence?

Which the following,according to positivists,is a weakness of historical research?

Outline,in chronological order,each of the six steps in a historical research project.

Which of the following statements is FALSE about historical research?

Which approach to qualitative content analysis identified by Hsiu-Fang and Shannon (2005) most closely resembles quantitative content analysis?

What are the main emphases of historical research? What sorts of research questions does it address? What types of research is it most appropriate for?

Describe five features that are specific and unique to historical research.

Which of the following is a characteristic of a distinct historical research method?

Describe the main feature that quantitative content analysis and qualitative content analysis have in common with each other.What are the key differences between quantitative content analysis and qualitative analysis?

Which one of the following features is common to both historical research and field research?

Which of the following research questions is directly applicable to historical research?

In relation to primary sources,what two criteria does a historical researcher use in order to evaluate documents and other sources? Briefly describe this evaluation process and the kinds of issues that each mode of evaluation is concerned with.

Students often use the labels "qualitative content analysis" and "discourse analysis" interchangeably,but they pertain to distinct practices.What is discourse analysis and what makes it unique?

What are some problems that the historical researcher confronts when dealing with narrative history (accounts of the past written by historians)?