Definitions

• Audience Research

  an investigation of audience understanding of an response to documents
• Behavior Schedule


  a checklist of activities which are noted on the schedule when they occur
• Case Study


  a study of one particular case or instance of something
• Closed Questions


  questions in which the range of responses is fixed by the researcher
• Coding


  classifying answers into various categories
• Comparative Study


  studies which make comparisons between different societies and different groups within the same society
• Correlation

  a measurement of the strength of the relationship between two or more variables
• Covert Observation

  hidden observation. participants are unaware that they are being observed as a part of a research project
• Covert Research


  the identity of the research and purpose of the research are hidden from those being studied
• Cross-cultural Study

  studies based on a number of different cultures. Studies which compare different cultures.
• Data


  information collected as part of a research project
• Ethics

  moral principles - beliefs about what is right or wrong
• Ethnography 


  the study of the way of life of a group of poepel. it often involves an attempt to see the world from their point of view
• Experimenter Bias


  the unintended effect of the experimenter on the participant
• Experimenter Effect


  any unintended effect of the experiment on the participant
• Field Experiment


  an experiment conducted in everyday social settings
• Focus Groups


  group interviews in which the interviewer encouragers respondents to discuss topics with each other
• Formal Content Analysis


  a method which seeks to classify and quantify the content of a document
• Group Interviews


  interviews which involve an interviewer and a group of respondents
• Hawthorne Effect


  changes in the behavior of participants resulting from an awareness that they are taking part in an experiment
• Hypothesis


  a statement that can be tested about the relationship between two or more variables
• Interpretivism


  an approach which focuses on the meanings and definitions which guide and direct behaviour
• Interviewer Bias


  the effect that the interviewer has on the respondent's answers
• Key Informants


  a member of a group being observed who develops a close relationship with the researcher and helps them by answering questions, introducing them to other members, and so on
• Laboratory Experiment


  an experiment conducted in specially built surroundings
• Life History


  an account of an individual of an individual's life as told to a researcher
• Longitudinal Study


  a study of the same group of poepel at various times over a period of years
• Methodological Pluralism

  combining different research methods and different kinds of data in order to build up a fuller picture of social life
• Non-direct Interviewing


  an interviewing technique which seeks to avoid leading or directing respondents to answer in particular ways
• Non-participant Observation


  the researcher observes, but does not participate in the activities of those being studied
• Official Statistics


  Statistics produced by local and national government, government agencies and organizations funded by government
• Open Questions

  questions which allow the respondent to answer in their own words
• Operationalize


  translating concepts into a form which can be measured
• Overt Research


  the identity of the researcher and purpose of the research are made clear to those being studied
• Participant Observation

  a research method where the researcher joins the activities of those they are observing
• Pilot Study

  a preliminary study designed to identify any problems with the main study
• Postal Questionnaire


  a questionnaire mailed to respondents in with a request to mail it back after completion
• Primary Data

  new data produced by the researcher during the research process
• Qualitative Data


  All types of data that are not in the form of numbers
• Quantitative Data

  numerical data - data in the form of numbers