Chapter 01

Instructions

Choose your answers from a-d by clicking the radio button next to each choice and then press
'Submit' to get your score.

Question 01

Which of the following applies to 'mode 2'

knowledge production?

a) It proceeds in a linear fashion building

on existing knowledge.

b) It is driven primarily by an academic

agenda.

c) It involves academics, policy makers

and practitioners in problem solving.

d) It places limited emphasis on the

practical dissemination of knowledge.
Question 02

Which of the following is not an example of a

middle-range theory?

a) Labour process theory.

b) Contingency theory.

c) Strategic choice.

d) Structuration.
Question 03

Deductive research is where:

a) the researcher uses an existing theory

to develop a hypothesis.

b) the researcher subjects a hypothesis to

empirical scrutiny.

c) the researcher has to transform

concepts within a hypothesis into researchable
entities.

d) all of the above.

Question 04

Positivism is an epistemological position

which:

a) means a researcher should approach

data collection with enthusiasm.

b) advocates the application of natural

science methods to the social world.

c) looks at the structures that generate

social events and discourses.

d) suggests that research should be

purely subjective.
Question 05

An interpretivist perspective on the issue of

leadership suggests that:

a) 'good' leadership can be measured.

b) leaders are born and not made.

c) it is a construct that is used to make

sense of social action.

d) all leaders act in the same way

regardless of context.
Question 06

Which of the following statements suggests an

objectivist ontological position?

a) Social phenomena have an existence

independent of social actors.

b) Social phenomena have different

meanings for different people.

c) Social phenomena are the product of

social interaction.

d) Social phenomena are fluid and cannot

be defined.
Question 07
 Constructionism is an ontological position
which stresses:

a) the importance of quantifying social

phenomena.

b) that order in organizations is a pre-

existing characteristic.

c) that the concept of masculinity is the

same all over the world.

d) that language and interaction construct

our experiences of reality.
Question 08

According to Burrell & Morgan (1979) which

one of the following is not a paradigm within
business research methods?

a) Radical structuralist.

b) Radical positivist.

c) Functionalist.

d) Interpretative.
Question 09

Quantitative research is:

a) more likely to take a deductive

approach.

b) more likely to take an objectivist

ontological position.

c) more likely to be informed by a

positivist epistemological position.

d) all of the above.

Question 10

Qualitative research:

a) cannot be combined with quantitative

research.

b) is aimed at entirely different

phenomena that quantitative research.
 c) is always inductive, interpretivist and
constructivist.

d) none of the above.

Question 1

Which of the following applies to 'mode 2' knowledge production?

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
c) It involves academics, policy makers and practitioners in problem solving.
Feedback:
'Mode 2' knowledge production is seen as being more suited to management and
business research because it uses skills and experience of groups outside of academic
institutions to achieve practical advantage.

Question 2

Which of the following is not an example of a middle-range theory?

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
d) Structuration.
Feedback:
Merton (1967) argues that a middle-range theory is one that attempts to understand and
explain a limited aspect of social life. Structuration (Giddens:1984) is an example of a
grand theory which operates at a more abstract and general level.

Question 3

Deductive research is where:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
d) all of the above.
Feedback:
Deductive research uses theory to make observations and generate findings. Inductive
research develops theory after having made observations and generated findings.
Question 4

Positivism is an epistemological position which:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
b) advocates the application of natural science methods to the social world.

Question 5

An interpretivist perspective on the issue of leadership suggests that:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
c) it is a construct that is used to make sense of social action.
Feedback:
Grint (2000) cites the example of Richard Branson to show how if we use an
interpretivist epistemological position we can see how leadership is a process of image
construction.

Question 6

Which of the following statements suggests an objectivist ontological position?

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
a) Social phenomena have an existence independent of social actors.
Feedback:
An objectivist ontology regards social phenomena as being independent from human
actors and as a result beyond our reach or influence.

Question 7

Constructionism is an ontological position which stresses:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
d) that language and interaction construct our experiences of reality.
Feedback:
 Research that looks at how language helps to construct social phenomena is often
undertaken from a constructivist ontological position.

Question 8

According to Burrell & Morgan (1979) which one of the following is not a paradigm within
business research methods?

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
b) Radical positivist.
Feedback:
Burrell & Morgan (1979) identified four paradigms within business research methods,
each reflecting a different set of assumptions about the nature of organizations. The
fourth paradigm is radical humanist.

Question 9

Quantitative research is:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
d) all of the above.
Feedback:
Quantitative research emphasizes quantification in the collection and analysis of data
and is therefore more likely to be characterised by the ontology of objectivism, the
epistemology of positivism and a deductive approach to theory building.

Question 10

Qualitative research:

You did not answer the question.

Correct Answer:
d) none of the above.
Feedback:
It is important to remember that although qualitative and quantitative research are often
contrasted with each other the differences between them are not entirely straight
forward.