Identify the main pre-occupations of quantitative researchers (A) Measurement…
2024
Identify the main pre-occupations of quantitative researchers
(A) Measurement
(B) Causality
(C) Description
(D) Generalization
Choose the correct answer from the options given below :
Answer: C. (A), (B) and (D) Only — Concept — In social-research methodology, quantitative research is identified less by the tools it uses than by a fixed set of standing pre-occupations:…
- A.
(A), (B) and (C) Only
- B.
(B), (C) and (D) Only
- C.
(A), (B) and (D) Only
- D.
(A), (C) and (D) Only
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Show answer & explanation
Correct answer: C
Concept — In social-research methodology, quantitative research is identified less by the tools it uses than by a fixed set of standing pre-occupations: recurring concerns that govern how a study is designed, measured and defended. In Alan Bryman’s standard account these pre-occupations are four in number — measurement, causality, generalization and replication. Description is not one of them; the concern with rendering the detail and texture of a setting is the hallmark pre-occupation of the qualitative tradition.
Application — Each labelled statement in the stem is tested against that canonical list:
Labelled statement | Standing in the canonical list |
|---|---|
(A) Measurement | A pre-occupation: concepts are converted into consistent, comparable numerical indicators so that differences and changes can be recorded precisely. |
(B) Causality | A pre-occupation: the drive is to explain why an outcome occurs, not merely to record that it occurred, hence the emphasis on independent and dependent variables. |
(C) Description | Not on the list: rich contextual portrayal of a setting belongs to the qualitative tradition, where thick description is itself the goal. |
(D) Generalization | A pre-occupation: findings drawn from a sample are meant to hold for the wider population, which is why probability sampling and external validity matter so much. |
Cross-check — The fourth canonical pre-occupation, replication, is not offered as a labelled statement here, and every combination on offer carries exactly three of the four labels. Testing the combinations against the list therefore reduces to a single question: which label must be dropped? Since (A), (B) and (D) are all on the canonical list and (C) is not, the internally consistent selection keeps measurement, causality and generalization and drops description.
Answer — (A), (B) and (D) Only — measurement, causality and generalization.