Research Terms

Question 1

Acculturation

Answer 1

Refers to the process of adapting to another culture, particularly in reference to blending in
with the majority population [e.g., an immigrant adopting American customs]. However, acculturation also
implies that both cultures add something to one another, but still remain distinct groups unto themselves.

Question 2

Accuracy

Answer 2

A term used in survey research to refer to the match between the target population and the
sample.

Question 3

Affective Measures

Answer 3

Procedures or devices used to obtain quantified descriptions of an individual’s feelings, emotional states, or dispositions.

Question 4

Aggregate

Answer 4

A total created from smaller units. For instance, the population of a county is an aggregate of the populations of the cities, rural areas, etc. that comprise the county. As a verb, it refers to total data from smaller units into a large unit.

Question 5

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)

Answer 5

A statistical test showing the effects of an “independent variable” on a “dependent variable” ; a technique to determine whether there are “statistically significant” differences of “means” between two or more groups.

Question 6

Anecdotal evidence

Answer 6

What people say about something; not proven by hard (experimental) research.

Question 7

Anonymity

Answer 7

A research condition in which no one, including the researcher, knows the identities of research participants.

Question 8

Applied Research

Answer 8

A kind of study that tries to make sense of the real world and to change what people do in the real world.

Question 9

Assessment

Answer 9

A test or other way of measuring something, such as a person’s mental health or goals or needs; often the first test in a series of tests, or a test given before treatment starts.

Question 10

Attrition

Answer 10

The “drop-out” rate among people who are being studied. People may quit because they want to, or they may not be able to stay in the study group (because of illness, lack of time, moving to another city, etc.), or they may not fit into the study anymore (if they get a job or marry, for example, in a study about single people who are not working).

Question 11

Axiology

Answer 11

The study of the nature, types, and criteria of values and of value judgements especially in ethics.

Question 12

Baseline

Answer 12

A control measurement carried out before an experimental treatment.

Question 13

Behaviorism

Answer 13

School of psychological thought concerned with the observable, tangible, objective facts of behavior, rather that with subjective phenomena such as thoughts, emotions, or impulses. Contemporary behaviorism also emphasizes the study of mental states such as feelings and fantasies to the extent that they can be directly observed and measured.

Question 14

Beliefs

Answer 14

Ideas, doctrines, tenets, etc. that are accepted as true on grounds which are not immediately susceptible to rigorous proof.

Question 15

Benchmark

Answer 15

A standard, test, or point of reference (often a number).

Question 16

Benchmarking

Answer 16

Systematically measuring and comparing the operations and outcomes of organizations, systems, processes etc., against agreed upon “best-in-class” frames of reference.

Question 17

Bias

Answer 17

Something that may lead a researcher to wrong conclusions; for example, mistakes or problems in how the study is planned, or how the information is gathered or looked at. If two different interviewers had different styles that caused people with the same thoughts to give different answers, but the answers were all put together in one pool, there would be a bias. It is impossible to conduct completely bias-free research. Also, a loss of balance and accuracy in the use of research methods. It can appear in research via the sampling frame, random sampling, or non-response. It can also occur at other stages in research, such as while interviewing, in the design of questions, or in the way data are analyzed and presented. Bias means that the research findings will not be representative of, or generalizable to, a wider population.

Question 18

Bivariate analysis

Answer 18

The study of two things (amounts, values, “variables”) and how they are connected.

Question 19

Case study method

Answer 19

The close study of one person, group, process, event etc. (most often one person). The one chosen (for example, Lauren Slater, who takes Prozac) is seen as like others in a larger group (for example, the larger group of all people taking Prozac) who are not being studied.

Question 20

Categorical Variable

Answer 20

A piece of information that can be put in a single category, instead of being given a number: for example, the information about whether a person owns a car or about whether the person belongs to a certain race can be put in the category of “yes” or the category of “no.”

Question 21

Casual Hypothesis

Answer 21

A statement hypothesizing that the independent variable affects the dependent variable in some way.

Question 22

Casual Relationship

Answer 22

The relationship established that shows that an independent variable, and nothing else, cause a change in a dependent variable. It also establishes how much of a change is shown in the dependent variable.

Question 23

Causality

Answer 23

The link between causes and their effects. For example, smoking (the cause) leads to lung cancer (the effect) and studying how often this happens and why would be studying causality. In most research about how people behave, causality can’t be proven, and ideas are tested by whether things (“variables,” amounts) change together.

Question 24

Central Tendency

Answer 24

Any way of describing or characterizing typical, average, or common values in some distribution. Measures of central tendency are mean, median, and mode.

Question 25

Chi-square

Answer 25

A statistical test that measures “significance” in the study of “frequency distributions.”

Question 26

Claim

Answer 26

A statement, similar to a hypothesis, which is made in response to the research question and that is affirmed with evidence based on research.

Question 27

Classification

Answer 27

Ordering of related phenomena into categories, groups, or systems according to characteristics or attributes.

Question 28

Close-ended questions

Answer 28

Questions that list the possible answers; for example, “multiple-choice” questions or “true-false” questions.

Question 29

Cluster Analysis

Answer 29

A method of statistical analysis where data that share a common trait are grouped together. The data is collected in a way that allows the data collector to group data according to certain characteristics.

Question 30

Coding

Answer 30

Putting answers into groups (usually numbered groups), so the answers can be counted and studied more easily.

Question 31

Cohort Analysis

Answer 31

A study of a group of people who stay in that group over a long time. For example, all people born in 1960 are a cohort; or all students who will graduate from high school in 1999. The study follows this group over time, rather than looking at them once.

Question 32

Concurrent validity

Answer 32

The measure of how well the test being studied and the “gold standard” test measure the same thing at the same time.

Question 33

Confidence Interval

Answer 33

A number (range) that shows how likely it is that the true amount is inside the listed range of amounts; for example, a 95% confidence interval of 25-45 would mean there is a 95% chance that the right amount (number, score, measurement) is somewhere between 25 and 45.

Question 34

Confidentiality

Answer 34

A research condition in which no one except the researcher(s) knows the identities of the participants in a study. It refers to the treatment of information that a participant has disclosed to the researcher in a relationship of trust and with the expectation that it will not be revealed to others in ways that violate the original consent agreement, unless permission is granted by the participant.

Question 35

Confirmability Objectivity

Answer 35

The findings of the study could be confirmed by another person conducting the same study.

Question 36

Confounding Factors

Answer 36

The inability to tell between the separate impacts of two o more factors on a single outcome. For example, one may find it difficult to tell between the separate impacts of genetics and environmental factors on depression.

Question 37

Construct

Answer 37

Refers to any of the following: something’s that exists theoretically but is not directly observable; a concept developed [constructed] for describing relations among phenomena or for other research purposes; or, a theoretical definition in which concepts are defined in terms of other concepts. For example, intelligence cannot be directly observed or measured; it is a construct.