Glossary: Research

Sample

A percentage of a total population researched in a study. Researchers often try to select a “sample population” that is believed to be representative of the behaviors or other qualities (race, ethnicity, gender) of people for whom results will be generalized.

Sampling Error

The degree to which the results from the sample deviate from those that would be obtained from the entire population, because of random error in the selection of respondent and the corresponding reduction in reliability.

Sampling Frame

A listing that should include all those in the population to be sampled and exclude all those who are not in the population.

Saturation

A situation in which data analysis begins to reveal repetition and redundancy and when new data tend to confirm existing findings rather than expand upon them.

Selective Reduction

The central idea of content analysis. Text is reduced to categories consisting of a word, set of words or phrases, on which the researcher can focus. Specific words or patterns are indicative of the research question and determine levels of analysis and generalization.

Semantics

The relationship between symbols and meaning in a linguistic system. The meaning of individual words and how their meanings are represented in the mental lexicon of speakers and the cueing system that connects what is written in the text to what is stored in the reader's prior knowledge.

Serial Effect

In survey research, a situation where questions may "lead" participant responses through establishing a certain tone early in the questionnaire. The serial effect may accrue as several questions establish a pattern of response in the participant, resulting in biased answers and skewed results.

Short-term observation

Studies that list or present findings of short-term qualitative study based on recorded observation.

Skewed Distribution

Any distribution which is not normal nor symmetrical along the x-axis, so the tail of the distribution is stretched out in one direction more than the other.

Social Theories

Theories about the structure, organization, and functioning of human societies.

Sociolinguistics

The study of language in societies, including language varieties, their functions, and their speakers.

Stability Reliability

The agreement of measuring instruments over time. It evaluates the extent to which scores obtained from the same individuals or objects remain stable when measured on two or more occasions under similar conditions.

Standard Deviation

A measure of variation that indicates the typical distance between the scores of a distribution and the mean; it is determined by taking the square root of the average of the squared deviations in a given distribution. It can be used to indicate the proportion of data within certain ranges of scale values when the distribution conforms closely to the normal curve.

Standard Error (S.E.) of the Mean

A term used in statistical analysis, a computed value based on the size of the sample and the standard deviation of the distribution, indicating the range within which the mean of the population is likely to be from the mean of the sample at a given level of probability.

Statistical Analysis

Application of statistical methods and theory to the collection, presentation, and interpretation of numerical data.