1
Q
Quantitative Data Analysis
A
The process by which substantive findings are drawn from numerical data.
2
Q
Statistics
A
The primary means by which societies collect and process information about themselves.
3
Q
Univariate Analysis
A
Analysis of a single variable
4
Q
Bivariate Analysis
A
Analysis of the relationship between two variables
5
Q
Distribution
A
The set of different values of a variable that have been observed and how common each value is.
6
Q
Frequency Distribution
A
A presentatation of the possible values of a variable and the number of observations for each value that was observed.
7
Q
Frequency
A
The number of observations with a particular value of a variable.
8
Q
Relative Frequency
A
The percentage of observations with a particular value of a variable.
9
Q
Relative Distribution
A
A presentation of the possible values of a variable and the percentage of observations for each value that was observed.
10
Q
Categorical Variable
A
A variable with a finite set of values that are distinct from one another and have unknown differences between them.
11
Q
Continuous Variable
A
A variable with an infinite set of possible values.
12
Q
Histogram
A
Type of graph that can be used to visualize the frequency distribution of a continuous variable.
13
Q
Summary Statistic
A
A single value that summarizes some feature of a distribution.
14
Q
Measures of Central Tendency
A
Summary statistics that indicate the middle of a distribution
15
Q
Mean
A
The sum of all of a variable’s values divided by the number of observations.
16
Q
Median
A
The middle value observed when observations are ranked from the lowest to the highest.
17
Q
Skewed Distribution
A
An uneven distribution
18
Q
Outliers
A
Extreme values
19
Q
Ratio Variables
A
Variables with a continuum of values with meaningful distances/intervals between them and true zero.
20
Q
3 Types of Categorical Variables
A
- Dichotomous variable
- Ordinal variable
- Nominal variable
21
Q
Dichotomous Variable
A
A variable with two categories
22
Q
Ordinal Variable
A
A variable with values that can be ordered in some way, but have no known differences between them.
23
Q
Nominal Variable
A
A variable with values that are parallel to one another and cannot be ordered/ranked.
24
Q
Mode
A
The most common value of a variable (that is the closest measure to the “average” of a nominal variable).
25
Variation
The amount by which each observation in a distribution varies/differs from the others.
26
Range
The difference between the maximum value and minimum value of a distribution.
27
Standard Deviation
The average distance between the value of each observation and the overall mean.
28
Percentile
An indication of values at or below which a certain percentage of observations fall.
29
Margin of Error
The amount of uncertainty in an estimate (that is equal to the difference between the estimate and the boundary of the confidence interval).
30
Confidence Interval
A range of possible values for a variable that researchers can have a particular degree of confidence in.
31
Cross Tabulation
A presentation of distributions between two or more variables as a table.
## Footnote
The table presents the categories of one variable as *rows* and the categories of the other variable as *columns*.
32
Marginal Frequencies
Overall frequency distributions of the focal measure that *do not* take into account differences amongst subgroups.
33
Conditional Mean
A mean statistic calculated for observations that meet a particular condition, rather than being calculated for every occasion.
34
Bivariate Regression Analysis
Used to describe how the conditional mean of the dependent variable changes as the independent variable changes.
35
Regression Coefficient
A value that indicates the expected change in the outcome associated with a one-unit increase in the explanatory/independent variable.
36
Population Trends
Analyses that show how populations change or remain stable over time.
37
Cohort Replacement
A situation in which younger individuals (of a population) have systematically different attitudes than older individuals who exit a population (by death).
38
Age Effect
How an individuals' opinions or other characteristics change as they get older.
39
Period Effect
A broad pattern in which all ages in a population exhibit a tendency toward change over the same historical period.
40
Materials
Preexisting information used as the basis for materials-based reasearch
41
Examples of Materials
* Expert Analyses
* Reports
* Records
* News Media
* Written Accounts of Events
* Maps
* Preexisting Data Sets
* Physical Objects
42
Materials-Based Methods
Social research methods that involve *analyzing existing materials* to the study the social world, rather than *interviewing*, *surveying*, or *observing* people.
43
Unobtrusive Methods
Social research methods that do *not* involve directly interactive with research subjects.
44
Macro-Level Phenomena
Social patterns or trends that are larger than any individual (such as societal composition, social structures, and political processes).
45
Societal Blind Spots
A tendency of individuals to romanticize the past *or* to presume that certain things are true even when the facts contradict them.
46
Expert Analyses
Published books and articles on the topic of interest of a particular researcher.
47
Reports
Syntheses of information that are typically compiled by governments or organizations as part of a review process.
48
Records
Documents that memorialize events or characteristics at a particular moment in time.
## Footnote
**EX:** Censuses and Statistics
49
News Media
Media that can be used by researchers to obtain the facts about important events and daily living.
49
News Media
Media that can be used by researchers to obtain the facts about important events *and* daily living.
50
Cultural Artifact
A material related to popular culture (including paintings, novels, songs, television shows, movies, magazines, and comic books).
51
First-Person Account
Primary evidence of how an event was experienced*or* what people think about an event, gleaned from interviews, diaries, letters, journals, video blogs, or social media posts.
52
Physical Materials
Data other than written accounts that allow researchers to study life in a particular time and place.
53
Maps
A representation of a space/area that is used to study information of societal traces, spatial differences in phenomena, and the concentration of phenomena over an area.
54
Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
Systems of statistical software that take many pieces of quantitative data and associate them with locations on maps to understand how social phenomena are unfolding.
55
Data Set
A material that has been converted into quantitative data and preserved in files for analysis with statistical software.
56
Big Data
Data sets with billions of pieces of information that are typically created through individuals' interactions with technology.
57
Primary Information
First-hand evidence in its original and unaltered form (including researchers' direct observations and original first-person accounts).
58
Secondary Information
Indirect evidence of something that the researcher learns of through at least one other person.
59
Archive
A physical or web location where materials are brought together, organized by theme, preserved, and made available for inspection by scholars.
60
Aggregate Data
Summary statistics (e.g. the group mean) that describe people or organizations of a particular type or in a particular location.
61
Micro-Level Data
Individual-level data
62
Historical Research Methods
Methods that examines *change over time* to answer questions about how and why social processes unfold in particular ways.
63
Comparative Research Methods
Methods that use materials to examine *change across locations* to answer questions about how and why social processes unfold in particular ways.
64
Purposive Sampling
A sampling strategy in which cases/individuals are deliberately selected on the basis of features that distinguish them from other cases/individuals.
65
Counterfactuals
A thought exercise of imagining what *might have happened* but did not, which can help in determining the significance of a case.
66
Saturation
The point at which new materials fail to yield new insights and simply reinforce what the researcher already knows.
67
Content Analysis
A materials-based method that focuses specifically on the texts and images found in materials.
68
Quantitative Content Analysis
Testing hypotheses through the systematic review of materials that have been converted into a quantitative data set.
69
Critical Content Analysis
An interpretive analysis of media designed to uncover societal blind sports.
70
Coding
The process of translating written or visual material into standardized categories to operationalize key concepts into variables.
71
Coding Scheme
A document that lists all of the possible categories *and* outlines specific rules for how to apply those categories to the material in order to standardize the measurement of concepts.
72
Decision Rule
A rule that clearly distinguishes mutually exclusive categories of a variable in quantitative data analysis.
73
Codebook
A system of organizing information about a data set (including the variables of the set, the possible values for the variables, the coding schemes, and the decision rules).
74
Natural Language Processing
A method of using computer software and machine learning techniques to identify patterns and associations in big data sets of text.
75
Deconstruction
A critical interpretive approach to research that involves dissecting the content of some type of media to uncover hidden or alternate meanings.
76
Secondary Data
Pre-existing data sets
77
Quantitative Data Analysis
The process by which substantive findings are drawn from numerical data.
78
Sampling Weights
A sampling technique for secondary data sets in which values are assigned to each case so that researchers can construct an overall representative sample.
79
Ecological Fallacy
The assumption that everyone within a group possesses the average characteristics of that group.
80
Triangulation
The comparison of findings of studies on the same topic that were conducted using different methods to see if the differing methods produce consistent results.
81
In-Depth Interviewing
A qualitative method in which the researcher asks open-ended questions to elicit as much detail as possible about the interviewee's experiences, understandings, thoughts, feelings, and beliefs.
82
Focus Group
A group interview on a specific topic that is led by a moderator, which allows the researcher to observe/record the interactions among people *and* how their opinions/beliefs are constructed through opinions.
83
Structured Inteview
A survey
84
Semi-Structured Interview
A type of in-depth interview in which the researcher has prepared a list of questions and follow-up prompts, but is free to ask questions out of order, ask follow-up questions, and allow the conversation to unfold naturally.
85
Interview Schedule
A prepared list of questions and follow-up prompts that the researchers asks the respondent.
86
Unstructured Interview
A highly flexible type of in-depth interview in which the researcher has a general list of topics to cover, but has control over all of the questions and the flow of the interview.
87
Informal Interview
An informal conversation with people who have background knowledge relevant to a study.
88
Oral History
An unstructured or semi-structured interview in which people are asked to recall their experiences in a specific historical era *or* during a paricular historical event.
89
Life History Interview
An in-depth interview used to understand how lives unfold over time, the timing and sequencing of important life events, and other turning points in individuals' lives.
90
Life Course Perpective
The study of human development over the life span while taking into how individual lives are socially patterned and affected by historical change.
91
Cognitive Interview
An interview with survey respondents to understand how the respondents interpret particular questions and terms, which involves them thinking aloud about their answers to questions.
92
Respondent
An ordinary individual who is being interviewed
93
Informant
A person who has special knowledge about a research question based on their social or professional position.
94
Expert Sample
The sample of respondents consisting of informants
95
Elite Interview
An interview of an informant
96
Case Study Logic
An approach to research in which the goal is to understand the case/person in depth, not as a representation of a wider population.
97
Sampling for Range
A purposive sampling strategy in which researchers try to maximize respondents' range of experiences with the phenomena under study.
98
Snowball Sampling
A sampling stategy in which the researcher starts with one respondent who meets the requirements for inclusion and then asks the respondent to recommend another person to contact (who also meets the requirements for inclusion).
99
Vignette
A short description of characters or situations that is presented to respondents in order to elicit a response.
100
Reliability
A judgement of how *dependable* (or reproducible) a measure is
101
Validity
A judgement of how *accurate* a measure is
102
Homogeneity
The principle of selecting people of similar status or background when constructing a focus group.
103
Moderator
A professionally trained person who leads the discussion of a focus group.
104
Ethnography (Participant Observation)
A research method that involves researchers immersing themselves in the lives and social worlds of the people they want to understand.
105
Subculture
A subset of people (within a larger culture) with beliefs and behaviors that differ from those of the larger culture.
106
Globalization
The development of worldwide social and economic relationships.
107
Community Study
A study that takes the entirety of social life into account, but within a bounded community (such as a small town or a neighborhood).
108
Complete Participant
A role a researcher can adopt when doing fieldwork that involves the researcher "going undercover" by immersing themselves in a fieldwork site *and* keeping their identity as a researcher secret.
109
Going Native
The threat that fieldworkers who completely immerse themselves in the world of their subjects will lose their original identity and forget they are researchers.
110
Reactivity
The process of the behaviors and beliefs of research subjects changing due to the presence and actions of the researcher.
111
Cognitive Dissonance
The unpleasant or distressing feeling individuals experience when they hold two discrepant beliefs *or* engage in behavior that violates their beliefs
112
Participant Observer
A role a researcher can adopt when doing fieldwork that involves the researcher telling at least *some* of the people being studied about their real identity as a researcher.
113
Informed Consent
The freedom for research subjects to say "yes" or "no" to participating in a study after all of the risks and benefits have been properly explained.
114
Hawthorne Effect
The phenomenon whereby merely being observed changes subjects' behavior in ways that limit what researchers can learn from the subjects.
115
Observer
A role a researcher can adopt when doing fieldwork that involves the researcher telling people they are being observed, but does not take part in the subjects' activities and lives.
116
Covert Observer
A role a researcher can adopt when doing fieldwork that involves the researcher observing people who do *not* know they are being observed/studied.
117
Systematic Observation
A method of observation in which the researcher follows a checklist and timeline for observing phenomena.
118
Grounded Theory
A systematic and inductive approach to qualitative research proposing that researchers should extrapolate conceptual relationships from data *rather than* formulate testable hypotheses from existing theory.
119
Extended Case Study Approach
An approach to theory in qualitative research in which the researcher starts with an established thery and chooses a field site or case to improve upon or modify the existing theory.
120
Gatekeeper
A person with the authority to allow outsiders into (or ban them from) a research setting.
121
Rapport
A close and harmonious relationship that allows people to understand one another and communicate effectively.
122
Key Informant
* A person who is central or popular within the research setting and shares their knowledge with the researcher.
* A person with professional or special knowledge about the research setting.
123
Field Notes
The data produced by a fieldworker (including observations, descriptions, dialogue, inferences, thoughts, analyses, and feelings) about what is experienced in the field.
124
Realist Tale (Mainstream Ethnography)
A type of *objective* ethnographic writing that is written in the third-person and includes most of the discussion of methods and the ethnographer's role in the introduction or appendix.
125
Confession Tale (Postmodern Ethnography)
A type of ethnographic writing that is written in the first-person, includes a very personalized account of the field, and incorporates the researcher's thoughts and feelings throughout.
126
Advocacy Tale (Critical Ethnography)
A type of ethnographic writing that goes beyond reporting and observing people's lives and *instead* documents a wrong and advocates for political change.
127
Visual Ethnography
A form of ethnography that involves taking photos of and filming people in their daily lives.
128
Team Ethnography
An ethnography conducted by two or more scholars working together.
129
Cyberethnography (Netnography)
A form of ethnography that is focused on the study of online life.
130
Inconvenience Sample
A sample of events and people that would call into question the researcher's own interpretations of what happened in the field.
131
Translation
The process of implementing the components of an evaluation research project on a larger scale.
132
Social Intervention
A policy intervention or change that is intended to modify the outcomes/behaviors of individuals or groups.
133
Evaluation Research
A type of social research method aimed at determining whether a social intervention produces its intended effects.
134
Stakeholder
Any party who has an interest in the outcome of a social intervention.
135
Social Desirability Bias
A type of bias occurring when study participants give responses that reflect social values *rather than* their honest opinions.
136
Treatment Group
The group of the study that *recieves* the intervention to be studied.
137
Control Group
The group of the study that is *not* exposed to the (manipulation of the) independent variable or intervention.
138
Internal Validity
The degree to which the study establishes a causal relationship between the independent variable and the dependent variable.
139
External Validity
The degree to which the results of the study can be generalized.
140
Randomized Field Experiment
An experiment that takes place in a natural setting and that involves participants being randomly assigned to the treatment condition *or* the control condition.
141
Treatment Condition
The condition in an experiment where the indepedent variable *is* manipulated.
142
Control Condition
The condition in an experiment where the independent variable is *not* manipulated.
143
Quasi-Experimental Method
A research method involving a treatment condition and a control condition, but does not include random assignment of participants to either of the conditions.
144
Biased Results
Results that either overstate *or* understate the true effects of an intervention.
145
Nonequivalent Comparison Design
A study design in which the treatment groups and control groups are formed by a *procedure* rather than through randomization.
146
Selection Bias
A type of bias occurring when the treatment group and control group differ on some characteristic (*prior to* the intervention) that effects the outcome of interest.
147
Matching Procedure
A procedure that involves selecting pairs of participants who are indentical on specific characteristics and splitting them to form a treatment group and control group.
148
Statistical Controls
A technique that adjusts for effects of additional variables that may differ between the treatment group and control group.
149
Reflexive Controls
A technique that involves researchers comparing measures of an outcome variable on participants *before* and *after* an intervention.
150
Pre-Post Design
A type of reflexive control design that involves the researcher measuring the outcome of interest both *before* and *after* the intervention.
151
Time-Series Design
A type of reflexive control design that involves the researcher taking multiple measures of the outcome of interest over time.
152
Multiple Time-Series Design
A type of reflexive control design that involves the researcher comparing the effects of an intervention over multiple times *and* locations.
153
Formative Research
A type of evaluation research involving researchers collecting qualitative data to help them design effective survey instruments.
154
Cost-Benefit Analysis
The process of comparing the estimated *value* of an intervention to the estimated *cost* of the intervention.
155
Causality
The two-variable relationship in which one factor/variable is dependent upon the other factor/variable.
156
Experiment
A method of manipulating one (or more) independent variable(s) to determine the effect(s) on a dependent variable.
157
Independent Variable
The variable on which the dependent variable depends; it is the supposed *cause* of a causal relationship between the independent variable and dependent variable.
158
Dependent Variable
The variable that is acted upon or affected by the independent variable; it is the outcome the researcher seeks to understand.
159
Random Assignment
The distribution of individual differences equally across experimental conditions to ensure that the *only* difference between the experimental group and control group is the independent variable manipulated in the experimental group.
160
Experimental Group
The group of a study that *is* exposed to the experimental manipulation.
161
Spuriousness
An apparent relation between two concepts that is the result of of some third confounding concept influencing both of the studied concepts.
162
Experimenter Effect
The event of a researcher subtly or unconsciously affecting the performance of a study participant.
163
Laboratory Experiment
An experiment that takes place in a laboratory, which gives researchers the maximum amount of control over the environment in which the experiment is conducted
164
Salience
The event of study participants noticing the experimental variation.
165
Field Experiment
An experiment that takes place in (and includes partipants from) a natural or "real world" setting.
166
Double-Blind Study
A study in which neither the researcher *nor* the participant is aware of the condition (i.e. experimental *or* control) they have been subjected to.
167
Audit Study
A type of field experiment used to assess whether certain characteristics (such as gender, race, and sexual orientation) lead to discrimination in *real* labor and housing markets.
168
Factorial Design Experiments
Experiments with two or more independent variables to allow researchers to measure various characteristics at once.
169
Population-Based Survey Experiment
An experiment that is conducted using survey methods on a representative sample of the population of interest.
## Footnote
An experiment in which participants read a description of a scenario and then answer questions about how they would react to the given situation.
170
Natural Experiment
An experiment in which the independent variable is manipulated by "nature" (*rather than* by the experimenter) and participants are assigned to conditions by natural forces (*rather than* by experimental procedures).
171
Cover Story
A false reason for participation that is created by the researcher to ensure participant engagement.
172
Confederates
Individuals who are trained by the researcher to pretend they are study participants.
173
Between-Subject Design
A study design in which participants are randomly assigned to different levels of the independent variable.
174
Within-Subject Design
A study design in which participants receive *all* levels of the independent variable.
175
Behavioral Measures
Measures collected by observing the overt and observable actions of participants.
176
Attitudinal Measures
Self-reported responses of participants to questions about their attitudes, opinions, emotions, and beliefs.
177
Physiological Measures
Biological responses to stimuli (that help to understand *how* and *why* behavioral measures occur).
178
Debrief
Telling participants the true purpose of the study
179
Survey
A highly structured social research method in which researchers ask a sample of individuals to answer a series of questions.
180
Primary Data Collection
Data collection that occurs when social researchers design and carry out their own data-collecting process
181
Primary Data
Data that is collected by researchers for the purposes of their own study.
182
Secondary Data
Data that was collected by another individual/researcher
## Footnote
**Secondary Data Source:** A resource that was collected by another individual/researcher.
183
Self-Administered Questionnaire (SAQ)
A survey completed directly by respondents through the mail *or* online.
184
Mode of Administration
The way in which a survey is administered (e.g. face-to-face, phone, mail, online).
185
Close-Ended Questions
Questions that allow subjects to *only* respond in pre-set ways.
186
Response Categories
The pre-set (and close-ended) answers on a survey
187
Open-Ended Questions
Broad interview questions that allow subjects to respond in their own words *rather than* in pre-set ways.
188
Cross-Sectional Survey
A survey in which data are collected at only *one* time point.
189
Longitudinal Survey
A survey in which data are collected at *multiple* time points.
190
Repeated Cross-Sectional Survey
A type of *longitudinal* survey in which data are collected at *multiple* time points, but from *different* subjects at each time point.
191
Panel Survey
A type of *longitudinal* survey in which data are collected from the *same* subjects at *multiple* time points.
192
Omnibus Survey
A survey that collects data on a wide range of topics related to social life (and may contain thousands of questions).
193
Poll
A brief survey that collects data on a *single* topic.
194
Split-Ballot Design
A survey in which a randomly selected subset of respondents receives *one* version of a module while another subset of respondents receives a *different* version.
195
Nonresponse Error
A type of error that results when individuals choose not to participate in a survey *or* choose not to answer certain portions of the survey.
196
Measurement Error
A type of error that occurs when the approach used to measure a particular variable affects the response(s) provided by participants.
197
Coverage Error
A type of error that occurs when the sampling frame does *not* adequately capture all members of the target population.
## Footnote
*Coverage error* is the result of either systematically omitting certain respondents *or* including the same respondents multiple times.
198
Sampling Error
A type of error that results when the characteristics of the sample *differ from* the characteristics of the population that the sample represents.
199
Response Rate
The proportion of the individuals contacted about a survey who *acutally* complete the survey.
200
Paradata
Information/observations about *how* and *where* an interview took place.
201
Paper-And-Pencil Interview (PAPI)
A survey in which the researcher asks questions from and records the respondent's answers in a pre-printed copy of the survey booklet.
202
Computer-Assisted Personal Interview
A face-to-face interview where the researcher uses a tablet/computer that is pre-programmed with all of the survey questions and response categories.
203
Showcard
A display-card used to help respondents answer questions that have many response categories.
204
Skip Pattern
A question (or series of questions) associated with a conditional response to a prior question.
205
Screener Question (Filter Question)
A question that serves as a gateway to a follow-up question.
206
Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview (ACASI)
A technology designed to facilitate the self-administered component of the face-to-face interview (by allowing the respondent to read/hear the survey questions directly from the computer and then answer the questions on the computer).
207
Computer-Assisted Telephone Interview
A telephone interview where the researcher uses a tablet/computer that is preprogrammed with all of the survey responses and response categories.
208
Mail Survey
A questionnaire that respondents receive in the mail and complete on their own.
209
Online Survey
A survey accessed via an email link that takes respondents to a pre-programmed survey on a website.
210
Mode Effects
The effects that the mode of administration has on the survey's results.
211
Stem
The portion of a question that presents the issue of discussion.
212
Dichotomous Outcome
An answer with only "yes" or "no" choices
213
Mutually Exclusive
The characteristic of there being no overlap betwen response categories.
214
Exhaustive
The characteristic of response categories accounting for all possible responses a respondent could have for a particular question.
215
Rating Scale
A series of ordered response categories
216
Likert Scale
A type of rating scale that captures the respondent's level or agreement or disagreement with a particular statement.
217
Forced-Choice Question
A question that does *not* give respondents a neutral response category.
## Footnote
Forced-choice questions "force" the respondent to make a choice for their answer.
218
Acquiescence Bias
Bias that results from a respondent's tendency to agree with a survey statement *without* truly reflecting of their own position or the question itself.
219
Ranking-Item Question
A type of close-ended questions that asks the respondent to rank-order their priorities or preferences.
220
Composite Measure
A measure that combines multiple items to create a single value that captures a multifaceted concept.
## Footnote
**E.g.** An *index* or *scale*
221
Index
A *sum* of responses to multiple survey items that capture the particular concept being measured.
222
Scale
An *average* of responses to multiple survey items that capture the particular concept being measured.
223
Double-Barreled Question
A question that asks about two or more ideas.
224
Response Set
The tendency of respondents to select the same answer to several sequential questions (perhaps out of boredom or a desire to finish the survey quickly).
225
Order Effects
A type of bias that occurs when the order in which questions appear influences the responses.
226
Priming Effects
A type of *order effect* in which exposure to a particulare image, word, or emotion shapes/influences how respondents think and feel in the immediate aftermath.
227
Pretest
A trial run of a survey administered to a group of people who are similar to the study sample.
228
Cognitive Interview (Cognitive Pretest)
An interview with survey respondents to understand their thoughts and interpretations of particular questions/terms so that the researcher can improve the clarity of the survey.
229
Frequency Distribution
A data set that indicates the *number* and *proportion* of respondents who chose each response category for each question.
230
Confidentiality
The situation in which a participant's identifying information is only accessible to the research team.
231
Anonymity
The situation in which *no* identifying information can be linked to respondents (and even the researcher cannot identify them).
Social Research Methods
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