CSP Qualitative Research & Ethnography 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: A researcher spends 18 months living in a rural farming community to study daily labor practices. This approach is best described as:
- Phenomenological inquiry
- Prolonged ethnographic fieldwork (Correct answer)
- Grounded theory sampling
- Narrative life history
Correct answer: Prolonged ethnographic fieldwork
Prolonged ethnographic fieldwork involves sustained immersion in a community to observe everyday practices over an extended period.
Question 2: Which data collection technique is most associated with uncovering tacit knowledge that participants cannot easily articulate?
- Structured interviews
- Participant observation (Correct answer)
- Online surveys
- Document analysis
Correct answer: Participant observation
Participant observation allows researchers to witness tacit, embodied knowledge in action rather than relying solely on verbal accounts.
Question 3: In qualitative research, 'thick description' refers to:
- Collecting large volumes of raw data
- Providing detailed contextual accounts that convey meaning and culture (Correct answer)
- Using multiple theoretical frameworks simultaneously
- Writing lengthy literature reviews
Correct answer: Providing detailed contextual accounts that convey meaning and culture
Clifford Geertz coined 'thick description' to mean interpreting behavior within its full cultural and contextual layers, not merely reporting observable facts.
Question 4: A sociologist studying hospital staff uses covert observation without disclosing their researcher role. The primary ethical concern is:
- Selection bias in sampling
- Violation of informed consent (Correct answer)
- Lack of theoretical saturation
- Insufficient triangulation
Correct answer: Violation of informed consent
Covert research denies participants the opportunity to consent, violating core ethical principles of autonomy and informed participation.
Question 5: Which of the following best distinguishes emic from etic perspectives in ethnography?
- Emic uses numbers; etic uses words
- Emic reflects insider meanings; etic reflects outsider analytical categories (Correct answer)
- Emic is deductive; etic is inductive
- Emic applies to urban settings; etic to rural settings
Correct answer: Emic reflects insider meanings; etic reflects outsider analytical categories
Emic perspectives represent how insiders interpret their own culture, while etic perspectives impose external analytical frameworks.
Question 6: A researcher conducting focus groups notices that one dominant participant repeatedly silences others. The best methodological response is to:
- Remove the dominant participant from the study
- Redirect conversation and use probing questions to elicit quieter voices (Correct answer)
- Discard that focus group's data entirely
- Switch to individual interviews for all remaining participants
Correct answer: Redirect conversation and use probing questions to elicit quieter voices
Skilled facilitation involves actively drawing out quieter members and managing group dynamics without abandoning the session.
Question 7: Saturation in qualitative research is reached when:
- The sample size exceeds 100 participants
- New data no longer produces new themes or insights (Correct answer)
- The researcher has coded all transcripts twice
- Peer review confirms the findings
Correct answer: New data no longer produces new themes or insights
Theoretical saturation means additional data collection yields no novel categories or dimensions, signaling sufficient depth of understanding.
CSP Qualitative Research & Ethnography 2
A researcher spends 18 months living in a rural farming community to study daily labor practices.
This approach is best described as: