Qks MR Glossary_F-P Flashcards
F-test
Test of the probability that a particular calculated value could have been due to chance.
Face validity
The intuitive test of whether a measurement seems to measure what it is supposed to measure.
Fact
Something that can be demonstrated to be true. A proven piece of information.
Factor
A variable that is controlled or manipulated by the researcher. May also be known as the independent variable or factor.
Factor analysis
Procedure for data simplification through reducing the many rating scales (or set of variables) used by the researcher to a smaller set of factors or composite variables by identifying dimensions underlying the data.
Factor loadings
The correlation between each factor score and each of the original variables.
Factorial design
An experimental design in which all levels of each independent variable are combined with all levels of the other independent variables. A factorial design allows investigation of the separate main effects and interactions of two or more independent variables.
False accuracy
An unwarranted illusion of accuracy provided by details, such as statistics quoted to two decimal places.
Family
As defined by The Bureau of the Census, two or more persons who are related by birth, marriage, or adoption and who live together as one household. Families do not include one-person households or those having two or more unrelated individuals.
Fertility rate
General fertility rate is the number of births a year per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44. Total fertility rate is the number of live births per 1,000 women in their lifetime
Field
The physical location where the interviewing takes place.
Field Director
The person at a research company responsible for the data collection phase of the survey. This includes selecting, hiring and training interviewers.
Field audit
An independent review and examination of system records and activities in order to test the adequacy and effectiveness of data integrity procedures, to ensure compliance with established policy and operational procedures, and to recommend any necessary changes. Sometimes called validations.
Field experiments
Tests conducted outside the laboratory in an actual market environment.
Field management services
An agency that provides research project coordination. Services may include questionnaire formatting, screener writing, and data collection.
Field recruiter
The person responsible for the process of screening and obtaining focus group participants who meet specific demographic or other project requirements.
Field service
A research service responsible for conducting a client’s interviewing project and collecting data. The service provider hires and trains interviewers, conducts the interviews and edits and validates the interviewers’ data for a client’s survey project. Also known as interviewing service.
Field work
Any process of data gathering.
Filter question
A survey question that is used to identify respondents who have the information required to answer the next question.
Final report
The document that the researcher develops at the conclusion of the research project. Its length varies, but a typical final report includes several sections: a summary of the methodology used, a review of the key findings, and the conclusions or interpretations of what the findings mean in light of the research objectives. Some final reports also contain a recommendations section containing suggestions for the client’s next steps based on the conclusions of the research. See also research report.
Findings
The portion of the final report wherein the facts from the research are summarized. The findings section does not interpret the information but reports the findings on which the interpretation will be based.
Finite population correction factor (FPC)
An adjustment to the required sample size that is made in those cases in which the sample is expected to be equal to 5 percent or more of the total population.
Fixed field
A way of laying out or formatting list information in a computer file that puts every piece of data in a specific position relative to every other piece of data. If a piece of data is missing from an individual record, that space is not filled. Any piece of data exceeding its assigned space limitation must be abbreviated or contracted.
Fixed personality association
A projective moderation technique in which participants are shown pictures of people, places or things and asked to interpret them in regard to the topic. Fixed personality associations use the same pictures over an extended period of time rather than varying them so that norms are created that may apply to a large number of sessions.