ARAŞTIRMA YÖNTEMLERİ

Sensitivity to natural environment refers to the condition that the focal phenomenon/phenomena or event(s) of a qualitative research has/have to be examined in their natural environment, or context. This specifically means that any phenomenon or event studied via qualitative research can never be manipulated. The correct answer is B.

Research studies conducted via quantitative research methods are inclined to see the facts through the same eyes all the time, and thus, fail to explain social phenomena that are constantly in a state of change. Yet, it should be remembered that social phenomena cannot be universal, are never fixed, and can change in time. The correct answer is C.

Case studies are frequently utilized especially within IR and comparative political sciences. The reason for this is the flexible structure of case study design, which offers analysis of all sub-fields within the field of IR. The correct answer is A.

Ethnography researcher enters in the natural environment where the group lives and participates in daily routines together with the members of that culture during a time labeled as fieldwork. Sharing the same culture with the members, researchers conduct studies where they interact with others for a considerable amount of time with minimum intervention in order to develop noticeable study models. In this way, the researcher observes the cultural components in their real settings. The correct answer is D.

There are three components in narrative inquiry: temporal context, social context, and space. These components may help deepen the understanding of a specific story; in the meantime, they are also regarded as the common parts of all stories. In this sense, personal experiences of the shapers in a story and their interactions with others constitute character dimension. Temporal context of a story, or time frame (past-present-future), builds the time dimension, and the physical environment where a story takes place forms place dimension. The correct answer is B.

Grounded theory is defined as a process in which the researcher digs out a general abstract theory about a process, action, or interaction grounded in participants’ standpoint. As can be followed from the definition, grounded theory makes use of processes and interactions grounded in participants’ narratives, perceptions, and experiences in order to develop a theory that can explain the phenomenon on a wider conceptual level. The correct answer is E.

The correct ordering of the steps taken during the process of qualitative research are as follows: 

I) Identifying the research focus or problem

II) Selecting participants

III) Data collection techniques

IV) Data analysis

V) Reporting

The correct answer is D.

Despite its many advantages, documents do not provide first-hand experience of event as they are written, visual or vocal sources of research. The correct answer is C.

A qualitative research may never make sure if a document that is not used at a given time will be necessary in future. Thus, it is crucial not to get rid of any documents as they might be relevant at a later time. The correct answer is A.

Credibility (consistency) is a criterion for rigor. Credibility means that data collected during a research process will yield the same results if recollected and undergone the same steps. The correct answer is E.

Based on the fact that a whole means more than the collection of its parts, research subject is approached with a holistic perspective. Collected with this standpoint, data should also be analyzed through a holistic approach. What lies under this idea is the hypothesis that the nature of human behavior is sophisticated and cannot be easily divided into smaller parts. That is why qualitative research efforts focus on the unity of variables that comprise the problem and the relations among them. The correct answer is A.

Case study is close examination of an event or phenomenon in its context in a given time-period. Ethnography is a research design where a researcher analyzes common behaviors, language, and action models of an intact culture within their natural environment during a long time-span. Narrative inquiry is a qualitative research design where written documents or conversations are interpreted about an event or a course of events that are chronologically related. Phenomenology is a research design to study participants’ experiences about a phenomenon they define. Grounded theory is a qualitative research design aiming to find out a general abstract theory about a process, action, or interaction grounded in participants’ standpoint. The correct answer is C.

Narrative inquiry is a qualitative research design where written documents or conversations are interpreted about an event or a course of events that are chronologically related. Case study is close examination of an event or phenomenon in its context in a given time-period. Ethnography is a research design where a researcher analyzes common behaviors, language, and action models of an intact culture within their natural environment during a long time-span. Phenomenology is a research design to study participants’ experiences about a phenomenon they define. Grounded theory is a qualitative research design aiming to find out a general abstract theory about a process, action, or interaction grounded in participants’ standpoint. The correct answer is D.

An indispensable principle of ethnographic studies is “the reflection of social life as it is experienced by the members of that group”. The correct answer is E.

Interview is a data collection technique that enables a researcher to gather data that observation and questionnaire techniques cannot unravel and to examine participants’ feelings, opinions, perceptions, and attitudes. The correct answer is E.

Employing documents as a data collection technique in a qualitative research may produce the following advantages:

The correct answer is B.

First major criterion for rigor in qualitative research is “internal validity” (trustworthiness), which means questioning the true value of the research for trustworthiness and to clarify the question “Does this research have a valid value?” Answering the questions below could be advised to establish trustworthiness for a given research. The correct answer is C.

If the aim of a research is to determine how standpoints about an event or a phenomenon vary from one participant
to another, and if the event or phenomenon is conceived to be influenced by an individual’s personal features (such as political thoughts, socioeconomic status, etc.), then maximum variation sampling could be the right technique to select participants. The correct answer is D.

Steps to be followed to conduct a qualitative research are identifying the research focus or problem, selecting participants, data collection techniques, data analysis, and reporting. The correct answer is B.

For narrative research design, classification is utilized in general: thematic analysis, structural analysis, interactive analysis, and performative analysis. According to this classification, in thematic analysis, a researcher gathers many narrations and concludes findings by grouping the data conceptually via an inductive approach. As for structural analysis, what matters more than narration is the form of narration, and it is a suitable approach to provide details in case studies and to compare more than one narration. Interactive analysis focuses on the dialogue between the narrator and listener. The focal point of a performative analysis is not the words spoken, but gestures, mimes, and moves accompanying narration, and the effort to convince listeners. The correct answer is A.