Research Glossary
Adequacy of data
Case study
Comparative studies
Coding
Constructivism/constructionism
Deductive
Empirical
Epistemology
Ethics
Ethnography
Frequency distribution
An adequate data set is one which allows the researcher
to reach a reasoned judgement as to its valid meaning.
This doesn’t mean the sole interpretation or deduction
which is possible, or that the conclusions drawn are
infallible. But it does mean that the researcher is relying
upon their data set to draw conclusions.
An in-depth methodological approach which could be on
an organisation, a social setting, institution, person or
group and so on.
The aim is to compare cases (e.g., area studies,
historical studies and so on), and to arrive at insights
specific to those cases as well as more generalised
conclusions about the category of cases as a whole.
Assigning categories to data using a system of numbers.
The view that reality is socially constructed through
social, cultural, economic, and political systems,
processes, and interactions. This means that the
interplay of researcher and the researched raises
epistemological and ethical issues for research.
Deductive approaches start from the top, from theory.
Gaps and problems in theories lead to identification of a
hypothesis, which is then tested at ground level, i.e.
empirical level. Testing is generally carried out by
scientific methods such as testing, experimentation, and
observation.
A style of research which rests upon the collection and
analysis of data: visual, spoken, textual, behavioural,
physical, from the ‘real’ world, informed by a diversity of
philosophical assumptions about the nature of the
world.
The philosophy of knowing. This explores ways of
knowing and the difficulty of knowing; questions such as
with what certainty and contingency might we know;
knowing versus understanding; and how we might go
about finding out or similar.
The problematisation of research processes and issues
on the basis of values, beliefs, and norms. Standards of
behaviour based on beliefs about what is right and
wrong.
Working within a selected site or field, researchers will
observe and possibly participate in the social life of a
community in order to learn from the actors’
perspectives the basis and operation of the systems
which govern them, for example, discourses, rituals, the
basis and operation of systems of stratifications and
rule, etc.
Plotting the distribution of the population across the
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Grounded theory
Hypothesis
Inductive approach
Interpretive research
Interviews
range.
 Normal distribution – a U-shaped curve
 Skewed distribution – the data is clustered in one
direction or the other
An approach to research: qualitative data is collected
and analysed. During this process theory is generated
and checked against further data collected.
A proposition in theory; i.e., the proposition is literally
hypothetical, and the researcher’s task will be to test it
empirically.
Research is approached from the ground level. Data is
obtained and its sense interred upwards to create
theory. Data is collected from the specific, local case,
and generalised upwards and outwards.
A broad approach to research which assumes that
reality can only be understood by the interpretations
which we make of it, typically for example through using
language and exploring meanings.
Purposeful interactions, typically conversations, which
generate data.

Litmus test
Longitudinal research
Semi-structured interviews: these have planned
and common components or frameworks with
fluid spaces which allow improvisation and
spontaneity.
 Structured interviews: these are entirely planned,
with wholly common components and
frameworks from which an entirely consistent
data set is generated.
 Group interviews: more than one participant is
interviewed simultaneously; sometimes they use
techniques of focusing, in which instance they are
more likely to be known and organised as focus
groups.
The litmus test, or acid test, is a definitive test used to
ascertain the degree of acid in a substance by using
litmus paper. The ‘litmus’ test of research involves
asking: Does this method produce the kind of data
needed in order for the researcher to arrive at the
conclusions that they do? Was this research conducted
in both an ethical and timely manner? Is the researcher
aware of the imperfections and problems in the research
– and has she taken them into account? Does this
research tell us something which we didn’t know before?
Longitudinal research refers to research carried out over
a period of time. Typically, data is collected at intervals
either from the same people or from different people
with the same characteristics. Depending on how the
study is set up (as a trend study; a cohort study or as a
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Methodology
Mixed methods
Multivariate set analysis
Narrative research
Negative evidence
Ontology
Positivism
Qualitative methods
Quantitative methods
Reliable
Samples
panel study), different kinds of readings can be
achieved, for example, of cause and effect versus
underlying trends.
The principles that inform the way choices and decisions
are made in designing, undertaking and writing up your
research.
Generally, this refers to the use of more than one
method in a research project; specifically, it often means
combining both quantitative and qualitative approaches.
Working with more than one variable, to see their interrelationships, for example their cause and effectives and
their relative importance or impact.
Seeks to work out the narratives used by research
participants to structure their experience in ways
meaningful to them.
Identifying what isn’t there and using it as a source of
data in its own right.
Relates to perception of the world: whether belief world
is knowable and measurable and that share in same
sense of reality or belief world is perceived differently by
individuals,
The belief that the truth is out there: that external
reality can be studied objectively using scientific
methods. The social sciences are viewed as akin to
natural sciences. Positivism is often exemplified by
quantitative methods and deductive approaches which
set out to measure variables which are independent of
the researcher.
These methods aim to develop understandings of
meanings. They often rely on interpretation and typically
work with ‘soft’ data: words, images, sounds, feelings
and so on.
Aim to identify and make sense of patterns in data, for
example by attempting to establish cause and effect
between different variables. Data is generally ‘hard’ in
the form of numbers, and reliant on quantification for its
analysis.
This means that if the research was done again using
the same design, under similar circumstances, we would
get the same or close enough results.
A sub-group of the population selected for research.
 Convenience sample: a readily available sample
 Purposive sample: a deliberately selected sample
believed to be representative
 Stratified sample: a sample that represents the
sub-groups (or strata) to the same extent that
the sub-group is represented within the whole
group.
 Random sample: here, all objects/subjects have
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Scales
Scientific method
Standard deviation
Theoretical exploration
Triangulation
Univariate analysis
Validity
Variables
Verstehen
Z-scores
an equal chance of selection.
A scale is a system of arranging data in order.
 Ordinal scales: a scale of quantity – measures the
degree to which each object possesses a certain
characteristic
 Nominal scales: categorises object into groups
 Interval scales: objects are presented in periodic
intervals where each object is the same distance
apart as all the others
An approach which intrinsically includes collecting data,
evaluation its parts in relation to each other; or
interpreting the data’s meaning, with testing theory or
constructing theory as an aim. Scientific methods lend
themselves to characterisations, such as rational,
objective, analytical and so on, much debated by natural
as well as social scientists.
The standard deviation is a measurement of the
distance between each case and the mean, whereby all
the distances of all the cases have been added together
and their mean distance. As a class or group, calculated.
The number calculated is termed ‘the standard
deviation’.
An approach to research which aims to compare, debate
and critically take forward theories in terms of other
abstract theories: this may not involve empirical
research.
Using more than one method, object or subject in order
to obtain a few different data sets. Triangulation is a
tactic whereby the researcher compares the data sets
and identifies a position broadly lying in the middle. This
amounts to a ‘most representative’ position, and
prevents the research from being (mis)led by outliers or
other kinds of unique cases or sources of bias which
skew the data.
Working with only one variable to ascertain its direction
and importance.
The extent to which you evaluate or measure what you
claim to evaluate or measure.
Items which you can bring together to see how they
affect each other, i.e. to see the relationship between
them.
 The dependent variable – what you want to
explain them with
 The independent variable – what you want to
explain them with
Understanding based upon interpretation.
A way of calculating the standard deviation between
different categories or classes. Z-scores are a way of
enabling alternative comparisons such as between the
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absolute best (the winner of the London Marathon), and
the best in each class (the fastest U19-year-old; the
fastest octogenarian).
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