Glossary: Research

Face Validity

How a measure or procedure appears.It is a subjective judgment made by individuals who are familiar with the content of the test or measure.

Factor Analysis

A statistical test that explores relationships among data. The test explores which variables in a data set are most related to each other. In a carefully constructed survey, for example, factor analysis can yield information on patterns of responses, not simply data on a single response. Larger tendencies may then be interpreted, indicating behavior trends rather than simply responses to specific questions.

Feminist Research

Seeks to contribute to the broader goal of gender equality by producing knowledge that is not only academically rigorous but also socially relevant and transformative. The research focuses on research topics which are of particular interest to feminist politics, characterized by the use of the concept of gender or aims to reveal structures of power, especially those structures organized by gender.

Field Studies

Academic or other investigative carried out in natural settings, rather than in laboratories, classrooms, or other structured environments.

Focus Groups

Small, roundtable discussion groups collect data through examining or discussing topics or problems associated with a research project. Focus groups usually are moderated and consist of 4-12 participants.

Framework

The structure and support that may be used as both the launching point and the on-going guidelines for investigating a research problem.

Generalizability

The extent to which research findings and conclusions from a study conducted on a sample population can be generalized and applied to the population at large.

Grey Literature

Research produced by organizations outside of commercial and academic publishing which publish materials, such as working papers, research reports, and briefing papers.

Grounded Theory/Research

An approach to research in which theories emerge from observing a group. Theories are grounded in the group’s observable experiences and interpretations, but researchers further add their own insight into why those experiences exist.

Group Behavior

Activity and ways of being of a group as a whole, as well as the behavior of an individual as influenced by his or her membership in a group.

Heuristic Research

Research approach that focuses on generating knowledge through exploration and in-depth and immersive engagement of the researcher. The approach can be subjective as the researcher is required to use their own intuition, creativity, and insight.

Holistic Perspective

Taking as many as possible actions or communications of a whole phenomenon of a certain community or culture into account in research.

Hypertext

In hypertext, documents are linked together through hyperlinks, which are clickable elements that enable users to jump from one document or section to another seamlessly.

Hypothesis

A tentative and testable explanation or educated guess based on theory or observation that is used to predict a causal relationship between variables.

Independent Variable

A variable which impacts the dependent variable, but is not impacted by the dependent variable; the conditions or variables of an experiment that are systematically manipulated by the researchers.