Reference Shelf

Glossary

Citations
Adler, Emily Stier and Roger Clark. 2003. How It’s Done: An Invitation to Social Research, 2nd Edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning. Babbie, Earl. 2007. The Practice of Social Research, 11th Edition. Belmont, CA: Thomson Higher Education.

Access – The ability to obtain the information needed to answer a research question. (Adler and Clark 2003:547)

Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) – Method of data analysis in which cases under study are combined into groups representing an independent variable, and the extent to which the groups differ from one another is analyzed in terms of some dependent variable. Then, the extent to which the groups do differ is compared with the standard of random distribution. (Babbie 2007:G1)

Anonymity – When no one, including the researcher knows the identities of research subjects. (Adler and Clark 2003:547)

Applied Research – Research intended to be useful in the immediate future and to suggest action or increase effectiveness in some area. (Adler and Clark 2003:547)

Cluster Sampling – A probability sampling procedure that involves randomly selecting clusters of elements from a population and subsequently selecting every element in each selected cluster for inclusion in the sample. (Adler and Clark 2003:547)

Coding – The process by which raw data are given a standardized form. In quantitative analyses, this frequently means making data computer usable. In qualitative analyses, this means associating words or label with passages and then collecting similarly labeled passages into files. (Adler and Clark 2003:547)

Confidentiality – When no third party known the identities of the research participants. (Adler and Clark 2003:548)

Crosstabulation – The process of making a bivariate table to examine a relationship between two variables. (Adler and Clark 2003:548)

Deductive Reasoning – Reasoning that moves from more general to less general statements. (Adler and Clark 2003:548)

Dependent Variable – A variable that a researcher sees as being affected or influences by another variable (contrast with independent variable). (Adler and Clark 2003:548)

Descriptive Statistics – Statistics used to describe and interpret sample data. (Adler and Clark 2003:548)

Ethical Principals in Research – The set of values, standards, and principals used to determine appropriate and acceptable conduct in all stages of the research process. (Adler and Clark 2003:548)

Ethnography – A report on social life that focuses on detailed and accurate description rather than explanation. (Babbie 2007:G4)

Experimental Design – A study design that calls for the control or manipulation of the independent variable in some way. (Adler and Clark 2003:549)

Explanatory Research – Research designed to explain why subjects vary in one way or another. (Adler and Clark 2003:549)

Exploratory Research – Ground-breaking research on a relatively unstudied topic or in a new area. (Adler and Clark 2003:549)

Evaluation Research – Research specifically designed to assess the impact of a specific program, policy, or legal change. (Adler and Clark 203:548)

Feasibility – Whether it is practical to complete a study in terms of access, time, and money. (Adler and Clark 2003:549)

Focus Group Interview – A type of interview where participants converse with each other and have minimal interaction with a moderator. (Adler and Clark 203:548)

Frequency Distribution – A way of showing the number of times each category of a variable occurs in a sample. (Adler and Clark 2003:548)

Generalizability – The ability to apply the results of a study to groups or situations beyond those actually studied. (Adler and Clark 2003:548)

Hypothesis – A specified testable expectation about empirical reality that follows from a more general proposition; more generally, an expectation about the nature of things derived from a theory. It is a statement of something that ought to be observed in the real world if the theory is correct. (Babbie 2007:G5)

Independent Variable – A variable that a researcher sees as affecting or influencing another variable (contrast with dependent variable) (Adler and Clark 2003:549)

Inductive Reasoning – Reasoning that moves from less general to more general statements. (Adler and Clark 2003:549)

Inferential Statistics – Statistics used to make inferences about the population from which the sample was drawn. (Adler and Clark 2003:549)

Informed Consent – The principal that potential participants are given adequate and accurate information about a study before they are asked to agree to participate. (Adler and Clark 2003:549)

Interval Measure – A level of measurement that describes a variable whose categories have names, whose categories can be rank-ordered in some sensible way, and whose adjacent categories are a standard distance from one another. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Interview – A data collection method in which respondents answer questions asked by an interviewer. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Literature Review – Reading, summarizing, and synthesizing existing work on a topic. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Mean – The measure of central tendency designed for interval level variables. The sum of all values divided by the number of values. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Measures of Association – Measures that give a sense of the strength of a relationship between two variables. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Measures of Dispersion – Measures that provide a sense of how spread out cases are over categories of a variable. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Median – The measure of central tendency designed for ordinal level variables. The middle value when all values are arranged in order. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Memos – More or less extended notes that the researcher writes to help herself or himself understand the meaning of codes. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Mode - The measure of central tendency designed for nominal level variables. The value that occurs most frequently. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Nominal Measure – A level of measurement that describes a variable whose categories have names. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Nonprobability Sampling – A sample that has been drawn in a way that doesn’t give every member of the population a known chance of being selected. (Adler and Clark 2003:550)

Open-ended Question – Question that allows respondents to answer in their own words. (Adler and Clark 2003:551)

Operationalization – The process of defining specific ways to infer the absence, presence, or degree of presence of a phenomenon. (Adler and Clark 2003:551)

Ordinal Measure - A level of measurement that describes a variable whose categories have names and whose categories can be rank-ordered in some sensible way. (Adler and Clark 2003:551)

Participant Observation – Observation performed by observers who take part in the activities they observe. (Adler and Clark 2003:551)

Population – The group of elements from which a researcher samples and to which she or he might like to generalize. (Adler and Clark 2003:551)

Primary Data – Data that the same researcher collects and uses. (Adler and Clark 2003:551)

Protecting Study Participants from Harm – The principal that participants in studies are not harmed, physically, psychologically, emotionally, legally, socially or financially as a result of their participation in a study. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Qualitative Data Analysis – Analysis that tends to result in the interpretation of action or representations of meanings in the researcher’s own words. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Qualitative Interview - A data collection method in which an interviewer adapts and modifies the interview for each interviewee. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Quantitative Data Analysis – Analysis that tends to be based on the statistical summary of data. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Questionnaire – A data collection method in which respondents read and answer questions in a written format. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Range – A measure of dispersion or spread designed for interval level variables. The difference between the highest and lowest values. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Rapport – A sense of interpersonal harmony, connection, or compatibility between an interviewer and an interviewee. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Ratio Measure - A level of measurement that describes a variable whose categories have names, whose categories can be rank-ordered in some sensible way, whose adjacent categories are a standard distance from one another, and one of whose categories is an absolute zero point – a point at which there is a complete absence of the phenomenon in question. (Adler and Clark 2003:52)

Reliability – The degree to which a measure yields consistent results. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Research Question – A question that can be answered with research that is feasible. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Sample – A number of individual cases drawn from a larger population. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Sampling Frame – The group of sampling units or elements from which a sample is actually selected. (Adler and Clark 2003:553)

Scientific Method – A way of conducting empirical research following rules that specify objectivity, logic, and communication among a community of knowledge seekers, as well as the connection between research and theory. (Adler and Clark 2003:552)

Secondary Analysis – (1) A form of research in which the data collected and processed by one researcher are reanalyzed – often for a different purpose – by another. This is especially appropriate in the case of survey data. Data archives are repositories or libraries for the storage and distribution of data analysis. (Babbie 2007:G10)

Secondary Data – Research data that have been collected by someone else. (Adler and Clark 2003:553)

Semi-structured Interview – Interview with an inter guide containing primarily open-ended questions that can be modified for each interview. (Adler and Clark 2003:553)

Simple Random Sample – A probability sample in which every member of a study population has been given an equal chance of selection. (Adler and Clark 2003:553)

Snowball Sampling – A nonprobability sampling procedure that involves using members of the group of interest to identify other members of the group. (Adler and Clark 2003:553)

Standard Deviation – A measure of dispersion designed for interval level variables and that counts for every value’s distance from the sample mean. (Adler and Clark 2003:553)

Statistic – The summary description of a variable in a sample, used to estimate a population parameter. (Babbie 2007:G11)

Stratified Random Sampling – A probability sampling procedure that involves dividing the population into groups or strata defined by the presence of certain characteristics and then random sampling each strata. (Adler and Clark 2003:553)

Structured Interview – A data collection method in which an interviewer reads a standardized interview schedule to the respondent and records the respondent’s answers. (Adler and Clark 2003:553)

Survey – A study in which the same data, usually in the form of answers to questions, are collected from all members of the same group. (Adler and Clark 2003:554)

Systematic Sampling – A probability sampling procedure that involves selecting every kth element from a list of population elements, after the first element has been randomly selected. (Adler and Clark 2003:554)

Theory – A systematic explanation for the observations that relate to a particular aspect of life: juvenile delinquency, for example, or perhaps social stratification or political revolution. (Babbie 2007:G11)

Thick Description – Reports about behavior that provide a sense of things like the intentions, motives, and meanings behind the behavior. (Adler and Clark 2003:554)

Thin Description – Bare-bone description of acts. (Adler and Clark 2003:554)

Validity – The degree to which a measure taps what we think it’s measuring. (Adler and Clark (2003:554)

Variable – A characteristic that may very from one subject to another or for one subject over time. (Adler and Clark 2003:554)

Voluntary Participation – The principal that study participants choose to participate of their own free will. (Adler and Clark 2003:554)