Survey serves to determine general tendency, attitude, or opinions of a population quantitatively or in numerical values by working on a sample chosen from that population. The researcher draws inferences about the population based on the data collected from the sample. Survey can be employed to assess individuals’ attitudes, opinions, tendencies, and beliefs. Most frequent data collection tools for survey are questionnaires, scales, or interviews. Survey can be implemented once (cross-sectional) or at different times (longitudinal).

Meta-analysis is performed by statistical techniques combining data from multiple studies that have analyzed the same research questions. The correct answer is E.

There is no particular strategy for students and researchers to choose a research topic but there are three well-known reasons that researchers seek after. They are; experience, theory testing, and replication of previous research. Past experiences of professionals can be a strong inspiration for researchers. Researchers are mostly interested in negative experiences for the purpose of improving practices and making them better for next generations. Theories can be used to develop research studies. Even a single study can be the focus of a research to examine its implications. The replication studies refer to repeating a past research recognizing its methodological weaknesses to do a better one. A researcher repeats a study carefully so that the previous limitations will not be repeated.

Such a stance with respect to the nature of reality led to the birth of a research design to produce knowledge that is measurable, replicable, generalizable, intact, and value-free judgements. Unlike qualitative and mixed methods, quantitative studies entail a strict planning process that researchers have to abide step by step right from the beginning.

Ontology is a concept that means the study of being/existence and the nature of reality. Ontology asks questions such as “What is the essential substance of (or the underlying foundation of) existence?”, “What is the nature of reality?” and “Is it possible for us to perceive reality as is?”

Primary non-parametric statistical techniques utilized in quantitative research involve chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, Spearman Rank Correlational Coefficient P, and Kruskal Wallis Variance Analysis. Likewise, some of the frequently used parametric statistical techniques are correlational analysis, regression analysis, t-Test, one-way variance analysis (ANOVA), and multi-way analysis of variance (MANCOVA).

Case studies are frequently utilized especially within IR and comparative political sciences. The reason for this is the flexible structure of case study design, which offers analysis of all sub-fields within the field of IR. The correct answer is A. 

A literature review is considered to be a research methodology in its own right when it is carried out systematically. In other words, if a literature review):

• Is commenced with a well-defined research question,
• Follows a systematic approach to answering that question,
• Clearly documents the steps that are taken to write up,
• Presents the results and discussion section, it can be taken as a research methodology as well.

Deepening the knowledge related to the research topic is only a purpose of literature review in a study.

Research studies conducted via quantitative research methods are inclined to see the facts through the same eyes all the time, and thus, fail to explain social phenomena that are constantly in a state of change. Yet, it should be remembered that social phenomena cannot be universal, are never fixed, and can change in time. Social world is complex and only one research approach or design is not enough to understand this complexity.

As a qualitative data collection tool, interview enables the researcher to gather data that observation and questionnaire techniques cannot unravel and to examine the participants’ feelings, opinions, perceptions, and attitudes. Observation means reviewing naturally- emerging signs of an event/phenomenon to comprehensively understand that event/ phenomenon. Diary can be described as a source of data where the researcher writes down her/his comments, feelings, and opinions about events that s/he observes and hears and where s/he can add her/his reflections about her/his experience. Documents refer to any kind of written, audio, and/or visual materials that bear information about the focal events or phenomena in a given research. Artifacts are another source of help qualitative researchers can use to answer the research questions. They can also be described as physical evidence for qualitative research. Artifacts refer to object(s) located within the focal context, and somehow, they appeal to the researcher’s interest.

In participatory observation, the researcher actively partakes in the target setting or the daily routines of the target group via direct interaction with the members of that group instead of taking a distant stance. The correct answer is B.

Hypotheses are of two major types: statistical and research hypotheses. Statistical hypothesis (H0- neutral hypothesis, null hypothesis, absence hypothesis) denotes that there is either no relation or difference between the variables. Research hypothesis, on the contrary, (H1- difference hypothesis, alternative hypothesis) is the expression of the relation that a researcher hopes to confirm after relevant data collection and analysis (Altunışık, Coşkun,
Bayraktaroğlu, and Yıldırım, 2005).

Narrative inquiry is a qualitative research design where written documents or conversations are interpreted about an event or a course of events that are chronologically related. Case study is close examination of an event or phenomenon in its context in a given time-period. Ethnography is a research design where a researcher analyzes common behaviors, language, and action models of an intact culture within their natural environment during a long time-span. Phenomenology is a research design to study participants’ experiences about a phenomenon they define. Grounded theory is a qualitative research design aiming to find out a general abstract theory about a process, action, or interaction grounded in participants’ standpoint. The correct answer is D.

Mixed-methods research has many advantages. But it does not lead to more consistency in research findings. The correct answer is C. 

Qualitative research methods’ basic features can be listed as follows: (1) sensitivity to natural environment, (2) participatory role of the researcher, (3) holistic approach, (4) identifying the perceptions,(5)flexibility in research design, and (6) inductive analysis. Holistic data collection is among the other features of qualitative research methods. Based on the fact that a whole means more than the collection of its parts, research subject is approached with a holistic perspective.

Grounded theory is one of the qualitative research methods where a series of methods are systematically operated in order to develop an inductive theory. It is defined as a process in which the researcher digs out a general abstract theory about a process, action, or interaction grounded in participants’ standpoint.

Empiricism is most often associated with John Locke (1632-1704)

Continuous variables are those that can take any value between their bottom and top limits, that is to say,
they can be expressed in fractions. For instance, the value that variable of weight can assume ranges from zero to infinity (Karasar, 1994).

Basic beliefs of positivist philosophy include: 1. Scientific knowledge must be based on empirically testable data. Thus, any scientific claim must be empirically verifiable. If any claim is not empirically verifiable, then it must be non-scientific, or even meaningless. 2. Empirical observations must be generalized and expressed as universal laws. Thus, observations must be reformulated as mathematical expressions, most often in statistical formulations. 3. There must be a unity of method across all sciences. Thus, there is no significant difference between the natural sciences and the social sciences. The correct answer is E.