Data collection assignment: listening answers and explanations
Three students, one of them called Rosa, meet to plan a group assignment on collecting data in social science. They go over the three parts of the task, argue about whether a questionnaire is a good method, and list the books they should read.
Three blocks in order. Questions 21-24 come from the description of the task, part by part. Questions 25-26 come from the argument about questionnaires. After 'Maybe I'd better go through the article again', Questions 27-30 follow the three books one after another.
Answer key and self-check
Type what you wrote and hit mark. Hide the key first if you haven't done the part yet. Every question number jumps to its explanation.
Q
Your answer
Answer
Questions 21-24 · Note completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)
Note completion (NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER)
Questions 21-24
How to attack this block: The task is read out in order: essay title, essay length, the study, the report. Two of the gaps are word counts, so keep them apart: the essay is short, the report is long. Write numbers in digits.
Question 21
Answer: collecting dataWhen one student asks for the exact title of the essay
Also accepted: gathering data / data collection
What is the essay about, according to its title?
Assess the two main methods of collecting data in social science research.
Question says → You hear
Assess the two main methods ofAssess the two main methods of collecting data
Why: The title is read out in full and the gap sits in the middle of it: collecting data. Two words, within the limit.
The trap: Earlier the task is summed up as 'ways of collecting data', and later as 'data collection'. Both point the same way, but the title itself uses collecting data.
Question 22
Answer: 1,500Right after the title, 'And how much do we need to write?'
Also accepted: 1500
How long must the essay be?
And how much do we need to write? 1,500 words. That's for the essay.
Question says → You hear
Number of words1,500 words. That's for the essay
Why: 1,500 words is the essay length. 'That's for the essay' tells you which part it belongs to.
The trap: The report's three to four thousand words come shortly after. Don't swap the two word counts.
Question 23
Answer: 5When they describe the second part, the small-scale study
Also accepted: five
What is the minimum number of subjects in the study?
carry out a small scale study, making appropriate use of the method chosen to gather data from at least five subjects
Question says → You hear
Gather data from at least ... subjectsgather data from at least five subjects
Why: The note copies the phrase 'gather data from at least', so the number after it is the answer: 5.
The trap: At the start someone says 'two, no, three parts'. Those numbers are about the assignment, not the subjects.
Question 24
Answer: 3,000-4,000When they confirm they have to write a report on the study
Also accepted: 3000-4000 / 3,000 to 4,000 / 3000 to 4000
How long must the report be?
And then we have to write a report on the study? That's right. I have three to four thousand words.
Question says → You hear
Report on study: Number of wordswrite a report on the study … three to four thousand words
Why: The report needs three to four thousand words, so write the range: 3,000-4,000 or 3,000 to 4,000.
The trap: Writing one figure. Four thousand is the last number you hear, but on its own it changes the instruction.
Multiple choice (choose TWO)
Questions 25-26
How to attack this block: One student likes questionnaires, the others remember drawbacks from an article. Only the drawbacks count, and you need two. Some options describe what the keen student says as an advantage, so listen for who is criticising.
Question 25-26
Answer: B and C (in either order)After one student says questionnaires are less time-consuming than interviews
Which two drawbacks of questionnaires do the students discuss?
Something about the response rate and the problems you get if it's too low? … questionnaire data tends not to reveal anything unexpected, because it is limited to the questions fixed in advance by the researcher.
Why: B: the article warns about the response rate being too low, which means too few people respond. C: questionnaire data 'tends not to reveal anything unexpected', which is option C almost word for word.
The trap: A is tempting because data quality is discussed, but the student says the article called questionnaire data 'highly reliable'. E, the wait for responses, is mentioned as part of why questionnaires are quicker, not as a drawback. Literacy, D, never comes up.
Table completion (NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR A NUMBER)
Questions 27-30
How to attack this block: Three books, each with an author, a title and a publisher or year. One author's name is spelled out, so be ready to copy it letter by letter. Titles and publishers come quickly, one after the other.
Question 27
Answer: MehtaWhen one student asks what the article was called
Who wrote 'Sample Surveys in Social Science Research'?
Sample Surveys in Social Science Research, I think, by … M-E-H-T-A?
Question says → You hear
AuthorM-E-H-T-A
Why: The title is given, then the author, then the spelling is checked. Copy the spelling: Mehta, with a capital M.
The trap: The name is spoken before it's spelled, and it can sound like an ordinary word. Only the spelled version gets the mark.
Question 28
Answer: Survey ResearchStraight after the Mehta article, 'And he also recommended...'
What is the title of Bell's book?
he also recommended a more recent book called Survey Research by Bell
Question says → You hear
Author: Bell - Titlea more recent book called Survey Research by Bell
Why: 'A book called Survey Research by Bell' gives the title and confirms the author in one go.
The trap: It sounds like the first title, 'Sample Surveys in Social Science Research'. Don't mix them: Bell's is just Survey Research.
Question 29
Answer: London UniversityRight after Bell's title
Also accepted: London University Press
Who publishes Bell's book?
It's in that series published by London University.
Question says → You hear
Publisherpublished by London University
Why: 'Published by' gives you the publisher: London University. London University Press is also accepted.
The trap: Oxford comes up a moment later, but that's Wilson's book, and it's already printed in the table.
Question 30
Answer: 1988When they mention the book in the departmental library about interviews
When was Wilson's book published?
It's called Interviews That Work by Wilson, published in Oxford in 1988.
Question says → You hear
Year of publicationpublished in Oxford in 1988
Why: The year comes at the end of the sentence: 1988.
The trap: After this they arrange to meet on Friday at 11 o'clock. Those times have nothing to do with the table.
E, the delay before questionnaires come back, sounds like a drawback, and they do mention waiting for responses. But the student says it as a reason questionnaires are quicker than interviews. The two drawbacks are the low response rate and the unexpected.
The name sounds like an ordinary English word but it's spelled M-E-H-T-A straight after. Write the spelling, not what the name sounded like.
Words from this recording worth keeping
assess(Essay title)
judge how good or useful something is
small scale study(Part 2 of the task)
a piece of research with only a few participants
subjects(Part 2 of the task)
people who take part in a study
time consuming(Choosing a method)
taking a lot of time
response rate(Drawbacks of questionnaires)
the share of people who answer a survey
reliable(Drawbacks of questionnaires)
able to be trusted
fixed in advance(Drawbacks of questionnaires)
decided before something starts
Sit this test on Langujet, then come back
The full Cambridge 4 Test 2 listening paper with the real audio: all four parts, played once, marked the moment you finish. Already done it? Take it again and listen for the traps this page showed you.
Cambridge IELTS 4, Test 2, Listening Part 3. The recording, transcript and questions belong to Cambridge University Press and are not reproduced here. We quote short extracts of the transcript only as evidence for our own commentary, and the answers are published for self-marking. Get the book for the full material, or sit the test on Langujet.
