Research Flashcards
Inductive Research
When researchers aim to infer theoretical concepts and patterns from observed data (ie. theory building research)
Deductive Research
When the researchers aim to test concepts and patterns informed by theory using new empirical data (ie. theory testing research). Deductive research is often employed through the use of the scientific method.
The Scientific Method
Refers to the standardized set of techniques that build scientific knowledge by informing how researchers make valid observations, interpret results, and generalize findings. Must meet the following four characteristics: replicability, precision, falsifiability, and parsimony.
Replicability
If the same study is repeated by another team of researchers, the experiment should yield identical or nearly identical results as the initial study.
Precision
Moving a theoretical concept from an abstraction to a precise operational definition, allowing for other researchers to measure the same defined concepts through similar or varied methodologies.
Falsifiability
Essentially, all theories must be discussed in ways that clearly identify a route for the theory to be disproven or falsified.
Parsimony
In the event that the data produces multiple explanations for the same phenomenon, researchers must always accept and prioritize the least complex and most logically economical explanation.
Construct
An abstract concept that is specifically chosen to explain a given phenomenon.
Descriptive Research
Research that is directed at making careful observations and detailed documentation of an identified phenomenon. Observations here are based on the scientific method.
Epistemology
Refers to our assumptions about the best way to study the world
Exploratory Research
Research conducted in new areas of inquiry, where the goals of the research are:
1) to scope out the magnitude or extent of a particular phenomenon, problem, or behavior
2) to generate some initial ideas about that phenomenon
3) to test the feasibility of undertaking a more extensive study regarding that phenomenon
Ontology
Refers to our assumptions about how we see the world
Operational Definitions
Used to define constructs in terms of how they will be empirically measured
Operationalization
The process of designing precise measures for abstract theoretical constructs.
Sampling
The target population from which they wish to collect data.
Unit of Analysis
Refers to the person, collective group, or object who/that is the target of the investigation.
Variable
A measurable representation of an abstract construct.
Internal Validity
Also referred to as causality; examines whether the observed change in a dependent variable is indeed caused by a corresponding change in a hypothesized independent variable and NOT by variables extraneous to the research context. Essentially, it the data congruent to the hypothesis and measured variables as opposed to other factors not accounted for.
External Validity
Also referred to as generalizability; refers to whether the observed associations can be generalized from the sample to the population, to other people, organizations, contexts, or time.
Construct Validity
Examines how well a given instrument scale is measuring the theoretical construct that it is expected to measure.
Statistical Conclusion Validity
Examines the extent to which conclusions drawn derived using a statistical procedure are valid.
Experimental Studies
Studies that are intended to test cause-effect relationships (hypotheses) in a tightly controlled setting by separating the cause from the effect in time, administering the cause to one group of subjects (treatment group), but not to the other group (control group), and observing how the main effects vary between subjects in the two groups. In a true experimental design, the subjects must be randomly assigned to each group. Otherwise, it is considered “quasi-experimental.”
Field Surveys
Non-experimental designs that do not control for or manipulate independent variables or manualized treatments, but instead measure operationally defined variables and test their effects using statistical methods. They capture snapshots of practices, beliefs, or situations from a random sample of subjects in field settings through a survey questionnaire, or less frequently, through a structured interview.
Secondary Data Analysis
An analysis of data that has previously been collected and tabulated by other sources.
Case Research (Case Studies)
An in-depth investigation of a problem in one or more real-life settings over an extended period of time.
Focus Group Research
A type of research that involves bringing in a small group of subjects (typically 6 to 10 people) at one location, and having them discuss a phenomenon of interest for a period of 1-2 hours.
Ethnography
An interpretive research design emphasizing that research phenomenon must be studied within the context of its native culture. The researcher is deeply immersed in a certain culture over an extended period of time (8 months to 2 years), and during that period, engages, observes, and records the daily life of the studied culture, and theorizes about the evolution and behaviors in that culture
Survey Research
A research method involving the use of standardized questionnaires or interviews to collect data about people and their preferences, thoughts, and behaviors in a systematic manner.
Interview Survey
Interviews are more personalized forms of data collection methods than questionnaires and are conducted by trained interviewers using the same research protocol as questionnaire surveys.
Qualitative Analysis
The analysis of qualitative data such as text data from interview transcripts. Qualitative analysis is largely dependent upon the researcher’s analytic and integrative skills and personal knowledge of the social context where the data was collected.
Quantitative Analysis
Statistics driven and largely independent of the researcher.
Grounded Theory
An inductive technique of interpreting recorded data about a social phenomenon to build theories about that phenomenon. Develops theory by letting meaning emerge from the data or to be “grounded” in data.
Mean
The simple average of all values in a given distribution.
Median
The middle value within a range of values in a distribution.
Mode
The most frequently occurring value in a distribution of values.
Standard Deviation
The second measure of dispersion, which corrects for such outliers by using a formula that takes into account how close or how far each value lands relative to the distribution mean.
Correlation
A number between -1 and +1 denoting the strength of the relationship between two variables.
Inter-Rater Reliability
Also called inter-observer reliability, this is a measure of consistency between two or more independent raters (observers) of the same construct.
Test-Retest Reliability
Measures the consistency between two measurements (tests) of the same construct administered to the same sample at two different points in time.
Split-Half Reliability
Measures the consistency between two halves of a construct measure.