Glossary of Research
Abstract A term with two meanings in literature reviews: a short summary of a scholarly journal article that usually appears at its beginning, and a reference tool for locating scholarly journal articles.
Acceptable incompetent When a field researcher pretends to be less skilled or knowledgeable in order to learn more about a field site. (11)
Accretion measures Nonreactive measures of the residue of the activity of people or what they leave
behind. (9)
Action research A type of applied social research in which a researcher treats knowledge as a form of power and abolishes the division between creating knowledge and using knowledge to engage in
political action. (1)
Alternative hypothesis A hypothesis paired with a null hypothesis stating that the independent variable has an effect on a dependent variable. (4)
Analytic domain In domain analysis, a type of domain a researcher develops using categories or terms he or she developed to understand a social setting. (13)
Analytic memo's The written notes a qualitative researcher takes during data collection and after-
ward to develop concepts, themes, or preliminary generalizations. (11)
Anonymity Research participants remain anonymous or nameless. (3)
Appearance of interest A technique in field research in which researchers maintain relations in a field site by pretending to be interested and excited by the activities of those studied, even though they are actually uninterested or very bored. (11)
Applied social research Research that attempts to solve a concrete problem or address a specific policy question and that has a direct, practical application. (1)
Association A co-occurrence of two events, factors, characteristics, or activities, such that when one
happens, the other is likely to occur as well. Many statistics measure this. (2)
Assumption Parts of social theories that are not tested, but act as starting points or basic beliefs about the world. They are necessary to make other theoretical statements and to build social theory. (2)
Attitude of strangeness A technique in field research in which researchers study a field site by mentally adjusting to "see" it for the first time or as an outsider. (11)
Attributes The categories or levels of a variable. (4)
Axial coding A second coding of qualitative data after open coding. The researcher organizes the codes, develops links among them, and discovers key analytic categories. (13)
Back translation A technique in comparative research for checking lexicon equivalence.
A researcher translates spoken or written text from an original language into a second language,
then translates the same text in the second language back into the original language, then com-
pares the two original language texts. (12)
Bar chart A display of quantitative data for one variable in the form of rectangles where longer rectangles indicate more cases in a variable category. Usually, it is used with discrete data and there is a small space between rectangles. They can have a horizontal or vertical orientation. Also called bar graphs. (10)
Basic social research Research designed to advance fundamental knowledge about the social world. (1)
Bivariate statistics Statistical measures that involve two variables only. (10)
(Neuman, 2012)
Acceptable incompetent When a field researcher pretends to be less skilled or knowledgeable in order to learn more about a field site. (11)
Accretion measures Nonreactive measures of the residue of the activity of people or what they leave
behind. (9)
Action research A type of applied social research in which a researcher treats knowledge as a form of power and abolishes the division between creating knowledge and using knowledge to engage inpolitical action. (1)
Alternative hypothesis A hypothesis paired with a null hypothesis stating that the independent variable has an effect on a dependent variable. (4)
Analytic domain In domain analysis, a type of domain a researcher develops using categories or terms he or she developed to understand a social setting. (13)
Analytic memo's The written notes a qualitative researcher takes during data collection and after-
ward to develop concepts, themes, or preliminary generalizations. (11)
Anonymity Research participants remain anonymous or nameless. (3)
Appearance of interest A technique in field research in which researchers maintain relations in a field site by pretending to be interested and excited by the activities of those studied, even though they are actually uninterested or very bored. (11)
Applied social research Research that attempts to solve a concrete problem or address a specific policy question and that has a direct, practical application. (1)
Association A co-occurrence of two events, factors, characteristics, or activities, such that when one
happens, the other is likely to occur as well. Many statistics measure this. (2)
Assumption Parts of social theories that are not tested, but act as starting points or basic beliefs about the world. They are necessary to make other theoretical statements and to build social theory. (2)
Attitude of strangeness A technique in field research in which researchers study a field site by mentally adjusting to "see" it for the first time or as an outsider. (11)
Attributes The categories or levels of a variable. (4)
Axial coding A second coding of qualitative data after open coding. The researcher organizes the codes, develops links among them, and discovers key analytic categories. (13)
Back translation A technique in comparative research for checking lexicon equivalence.
A researcher translates spoken or written text from an original language into a second language,
then translates the same text in the second language back into the original language, then com-
pares the two original language texts. (12)
Bar chart A display of quantitative data for one variable in the form of rectangles where longer rectangles indicate more cases in a variable category. Usually, it is used with discrete data and there is a small space between rectangles. They can have a horizontal or vertical orientation. Also called bar graphs. (10)
Basic social research Research designed to advance fundamental knowledge about the social world. (1)
Bivariate statistics Statistical measures that involve two variables only. (10)
(Neuman, 2012)
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