PR2 Q1 W6-7 Basic-Research-Terminology.ppt

research

1. BASIC RESEARCH TERMINOLOGY
-A STUDY, INVESTIGATION, OR A RESEARCH
PROJECT.
-SUBJECTS (SOMETIMES ABBREVIATED AS SS)
OR THE STUDY PARTICIPANTS: THE PEOPLE
WHO ARE BEING STUDIED.
-RESPONDENTS OR, SOMETIMES,
INFORMANTS: WHEN THE SUBJECTS PROVIDE
INFORMATION TO THE RESEARCHERS.

2. -Researcher ,investigator, or scientist :is the person
who undertakes the research.
-Principal investigator or project director; the main
person directing the investigation when a study is
under taken by a research team

3. CONCEPTS:-
- Conceptualization refers to the
process of developing and refining
abstract ideas.
Scientific res .Is almost always
concerned with abstract rather than
tangible phenomena.

4. Variables:-
-Within the context of a research investigation,
concepts are referred to as variables.
-Is something that varies or differs from one
person to another.
-All research activity is aimed at trying to
understand how or why things vary and to
learn how differences in one variable are
related to differences in another.

5. -A VARIABLE, THEN, IS ANY QUALITY
OF PERSON, GROUP OR SITUATION
THAT VARIES OR TAKES ON DIFFERENT
VALUES.
-CATEGORICAL VARIABLES: PLACE
INDIVIDUALS INTO CATEGORICAL
( AS: PREGNANT / NOT PREGNANT,
MALE/ FEMALE, SINGLE/ MARRIED/
DIVORCED/ WIDOWED).

6. -Attribute variables: are often inherent
ch.ch. Such as age, blood type, health
beliefs.
 Heterogeneity: when an attribute is
extremely varied in the group under study,
the group is said to be heterogeneous with
respect to that variable

7. HOMOGENEITY:

WHEN THE MEMBERS OF THE GROUP ARE
HIGHLY SIMILAR TO ONE ANOTHER WITH
RESPECT TO THAT VARIABLE, THE GROUP IS
DESCRIBED AS HOMOGENEOUS.
Demographic variables:-
-Are ch. ch or attributes of the subject that are collected to describe the
sample.

8. Dependent variables and Independent variables.
Independent variable Presumed cause.
Dependent variable presumed effect.
•Variability in the dependent variable is presumed to depend on variability in
the independent variable.

9. The dependent variable is the variable
the researcher is interested in
understanding explaining, or predicating.
Dependent is the response, behaviors or
out come that the researcher wants to
predict or explain.

10. The dependent variable is the
“effect’’ or the variable that is
influenced by the researcher’s
manipulation (Control) of the
independent variable.
The designation of a variables as
independent or dependent is a function of
the role that the variable plays in a
particular investigation.

11. OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS :
The researcher usually clarifies and define the
variable under investigation.
The definition must specify how the variable will be
observed and measured in the actual research
situation.
It is a specification of the operations that the
researcher must perform to collect the required
information.

12. This operational definition clearly indicated to
both the investigator and to the consumer
what is meant by the variable weight.
Precision in defining the terms has the
advantage of communicating exactly what the
terms mean.
-Data:- singular, datum)
Are the pieces of information obtained in the
course of the investigation

13. RELATIONSHIP:-
•Refers to a bond or connection between two variables or
more.
Example:
Height: taller people will weigh more than
shorter people.
Metabolism: the lower a person’s metabolic
rate, the more he or she will weigh.
Caloric intake: people with higher caloric
intake will be heavier than those with lower
caloric intake.
Exercise: the greater the amount of exercise,
the lower the person’s weight.

14. •VARIABLES CAN BE RELATED TO ONE
ANOTHER IN DIFFERENT WAYS:
1.Cause – and – effect (or causal relationships).( as natural
phenomena) –
eating more calories causes weight gain.
2.Functional relationship
•Control
-Research control attempts to eliminate any contaminating
factors that might obscure the relationship between the
variables that are of central interest.