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Question

A researcher is interested in studying the prospects of a particular political party in an urban area. What tool should he prefer for the study?

This question was previously asked in
UGC NET 2015 Paper 3 History Question Paper (28-Jun-2015)
The correct answer is

Questionnaire

The choice of a data-collection tool depends on who the respondents are, how many there are, how widely they are spread and how sensitive the subject is. Each of those points here favours the same instrument.

A questionnaire is the preferred tool. The study is in an urban area, where literacy is high enough for respondents to read and complete a written form without assistance. Assessing a party's prospects requires a large sample if the findings are to be representative, and a questionnaire can be distributed widely at low cost and answered at the respondent's convenience. Most importantly, political preference is a sensitive matter, and the anonymity of a self-administered form encourages honest answers where a face-to-face encounter might not.

An interview would give richer detail but is costly and slow for a large sample, and the presence of an interviewer can bias replies on a politically sensitive question. A schedule is a set of questions filled in by an enumerator who visits the respondent, which is the appropriate choice where respondents cannot read - typically in rural or low-literacy settings - and it carries the same interviewer-effect problem.

A rating scale is not a data-collection tool in this sense at all; it is a device for recording the degree of an attitude, and it would be used as a component within a questionnaire rather than in place of one.

Hence the researcher should prefer a questionnaire.

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Similar Questions

  1. Which of the following methods are used to measure reliability in research?

    A. Chain-referral sampling
    B. Test-retest
    C. Split-half
    D. Inter-rater
    E. Judgemental test

    Choose the correct answer from the options given below :

  2. Tertiary source of data is:

  3. Think-aloud procedure is:

  4. Below are given two sets - research methods (Set-I) and data collection tools (Set-II). Match the two sets and indicate your answer by selecting the correct code:

    Set – I
    (Research Metdods)
    Set – II
    (Data Collection Tools)
    a. Experimental metdodi. Using primary and secondary sources
    b. Ex post-facto metdodii. Questionnaire
    c. Descriptive survey metdodiii. Standardized tests
    d. Historical metdodiv. Typical characteristic tests

    Codes:

  5. Which of the following steps are required to design a questionnaire?

    (a) Writing primary and secondary aims of the study.

    (b) Review of the current literature.

    (c) Prepare a draft of questionnaire.

    (d) Revision of the draft.

    Select the correct answer from the codes given below:


Important Questions from Data Collection Instrument

  1. Which of the following could be problems with consumer interviews?

    A. A non-random sample

    B. The identification problem

    C. Response bias

    Choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

  2. Which of the following is not a method of collecting primary data?
  3. In a questionnaire, how many answers should be there for simple alternative questions?

  4. Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion (A) and the other is labelled as Reason (R). 

    Assertion (A): Filter questions in questionnaire measure the familiarity of the respondents with the topic of research. 

    Reason (R): Questions that try to capture multiple information at once are referred to as leading questions. 

    In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below:

  5. Given below are two statements: one is labelled as Assertion A and the other is labelled as Reason R

    Assertion A: Data must be authentic before it can be of any value in historical research, yet proof of authenticity does not establish its value, it must also be accurate.

    Reason R: External criticism is, therefore, referred to as lower criticism of the data.

    In the light of the above statements, choose the most appropriate answer from the options given below
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