Choose the correct answer for each question. You should aim for 90% or more for this quiz

1. Which three of the following are features of a Positivist research strategy in sociology?

   1. It is modelled on science
   2. It looks for general explanations for social behaviour
   3. It prefers experiments to other methods
   4. It only uses secondary data
   5. It only uses primary methods
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2. True or false? Whether a reseearcher is a positivist can be identified by looking at the methods he or she uses.

   1. True
   2. False
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3. True or false? Positivists often use experiments in sociology.

   1. True
   2. False
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4. Which three of the following are part of the definition of an experiment?

   1. It is a controlled environment
   2. It often involves deceit or damage to participants
   3. Set up to test a hypothesis
   4. An independent variable is manipulated to see the effect on a dependent variable
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5. Identify two ethical issues involved in using experiments.

   1. The results are often INVALID because participants behave differently in an experiment
   2. The success of an experiment may depend on DECEIVING a participant
   3. Taking part in the experiment may DAMAGE a participant
   4. Many sociological issues cannot be investigated in a laboratory
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6. Which three of the following primary methods would positivists like to use?

   1. Participant observation
   2. Structured interviews
   3. Unstructured interviews
   4. Postal questionnaires
   5. Structured observation
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7. Which four of the following secondary methods would positivists like to use?

   1. Official statistics
   2. Diaries
   3. School reports
   4. Content analysis of how often ethnic minorities are represented in adverts.
   5. Parish records showing how old people lived before the Census was used.
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8. True or false? Positivists would never use participant observation as part of their research

   1. True
   2. False
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9. Positivists prefer quantitative data. Which two of the following are reasons for this?

   1. Quantitative data is always better
   2. Quantitative data can be used with large samples and these fit in with the positivist aim of developing general explanations of social behaviour
   3. Methods which produce quantitative data can be used again and this makes the research more reliable
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10. Which of the following examples of research could be classified as using a positivist approach?

    1. Mairtin Mac An Ghaill (1988: Young, Gifted and Black) used triangulation to study how black and Asian students in a Sixth Form College responded to the way they were treated by teachers
    2. J.W.B. Douglas (1964: The Home and the School), studied a large sample of children born in 1946 to identify what was the most important influence on their success or failure at school
    Is this the right answer