The GATE Grind

GATE 2026 XH2 (English) – Question 35

Contemporary Literary Cultures and Research Methodologies · Research in Literary Studies: Archival, ethnographic, textual and discourse analysis, AI-assisted and multimodal approaches · 1 mark · Multiple choice

Which of these counts as a qualitative research method in literary studies?

  1. Critical Theory
  2. Statistical Modelling
  3. Close-textual Reading
  4. Ethnographic Analysis

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Show answer and explanation

Correct answer: (C) Close-textual Reading

Explanation

Close reading is the basic qualitative method of literary studies: it interprets a text through its words, form and imagery. Statistical modelling is quantitative. Critical theory is a body of ideas to read with rather than a method, and ethnographic analysis belongs to anthropology and the social sciences.