Deck 3: The Interpretive Approach to Theory

Question 1

What is the purpose of interpretive research?

A) To generate new theories
B) To predict human behaviors
C) To describe individual meanings
D) To obtain findings on which to make generalizations

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following statements are about rationalism?

A) Only hard evidence can provide knowledge
B) Knowledge can be deduced, and evidence is not necessary
C) Knowledge can be intuitive
D) All of the above

Answer 2

B,C

Question 3

The interpretive paradigm appeared in response to…

A) the growth of critical studies
B) the emergence of symbolic interactionism
C) the rise of social scientific inquiry

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which of the following is a theory of textual interpretation?

A) Symbolic interactionism
B) Hermeneutics
C) Phenomenology

Question 5

How is human nature described by interpretivists?

A) It can easily be observable
B) It can be empirically measured
C) Experiments are a reliable method to examine human nature
D) None of the above

Question 6

What criticisms were originally addressed to the social scientific paradigm by interpretive researchers?

A) Social scientific methods were not exact enough to examine human behaviors appropriately
B) Social scientific studies did not pay enough attention to the influence of the society on human behavior
C) Social scientific studies paid too much attention to the influence of the society on human behavior

Question 7

Which of the following theoretical areas focuses on experiences/activities which are usually taken for granted?

A) Post-positivism
B) Hermeneutics
C) Phenomenology

Question 8

Which of the following statements correspond to the interpretive paradigm?

A) It is through meaning, language, thought, and interacting with others that we define ourselves and understand the world around us
B) Describing and/or predicting human behavior through the testing of theory is of key importance to theory and research
C) Subjectivity and rationalism are an integral part of the process
D) The only way to find "truth" is through scientific inquiry

Question 9

What does "voluntarism" mean?

A) People's actions are caused by external factors
B) People have free will
C) People are able to make conscious choices based on reason

Question 10

What are the characteristics of interpretive theories?

A) They intend to be as objective as possible
B) They embrace rationalism
C) They are used to make generalizations
D) They have axioms and postulates

Question 11

On which grounds is interpretive research evaluated?

A) Reflexivity
B) Thick descriptions
C) Offering critique of one's work

Question 12

Which methods are most used by interpretive scholars?

A) Quantitative methods
B) Mixed methods
C) Qualitative methods

Question 13

Which paradigm emphasizes rationalism?

A) Social scientific paradigm
B) Interpretive paradigm
C) Critical paradigm
D) All of the above

Question 14

Which of the following scholar(s) belonged to the interpretive paradigm?

A) Auguste Comte
B) Max Weber
C) George Wilhelm Hegel
D) Emile Durkheim

Question 15

Which line of theoretical inquiry was originally used for interpreting sacred texts?

A) Symbolic interactionism
B) Semiotics
C) Discourse analysis
D) Hermeneutics

Question 16

Phenomenology is used to focus on human experiences.

Question 17

What are the three key principles of symbolic interactionism?

A) Language, history, rationality
B) Meaning, language, thought
C) Images, mind, language

Question 18

What does epistemology mean?

A) It is a way of organizing theories
B) It the study of what knowledge is and how it is created
C) It is the study of science

Question 19

How does an interpretive study differ from a social scientific one?

A) It is more likely to use quantitative methods
B) It aims at describing individual experiences
C) It focuses on specific situation(s)
D) It is more likely to use qualitative methods

Question 20

Which of the following statement(s) is/are shared by interpretive scholars?

A) Reality can be found and identified
B) Reality is subjective
C) Reality is based on individual interpretations
D) Reality is objective

Question 21

What are the three main principles of hermeneutics?

Question 22

What are the main aspects of rationalism?

Question 23

For an interpretivist, what is theory?

Question 24

For interpretivists, do humans have free will?