A Few Questions about Research Methods Here’s a quick quiz on research methods. Questions below, answers in a separate posting.

1. What is representativeness?
2. Define validity.
3. Define reliability.
4. What is the term used for sociologists who believe sociology should be scientific?
5. What is one of the key disadvantages of a postal questionnaire?
6. How can sociologists check the reliability and improve the validity of official crime statistics?
7. What is the chief weakness of fixed-response questionnaires?
8. What is the chief weakness of informal interviews?
9. What are the advantages of PO?
10. How can sociologists try to overcome the respective weaknesses of positivist and interpretivist methods?