Research Methods and Concepts

Research Terms

• A concept is an abstract term describing an object, idea, or phenomenon, such as the concept of "self-esteem" which describes how individuals perceive and value themselves.
• A theory is a set of principles that explain a phenomenon, for example, the theory of evolution explains how species change over time through natural selection.

Research Methods

• Quantitative method focuses on numbers and objective data, for example, a survey asking students how many hours they study per week to understand its impact on their grades.
• Qualitative method uses words and focuses on feelings, for example, interviews with students to explore their feelings and experiences regarding school bullying.

Variables

• A variable is a quality that can change and take different values.
• Independent variable is the thing being tested or changed, for example, the amount of sunlight in an experiment to understand its impact on plant growth.
• Dependent variable is the outcome or result being measured, for example, the growth of the plants in the experiment.
• Extraneous variable is an other factor that could affect the outcome, for example, caffeine consumption in a study on how music affects concentration.
• Demographic variable is a characteristic like age, gender, etc., for example, age, gender, and grade level in a survey to understand students' favorite extracurricular activities.

Research Hypothesis and Design

• A research hypothesis is a testable statement predicting a relationship between variables.
• Research sampling is selecting a subset of individuals to represent a larger population.
• Research problem is a specific issue or question to investigate.
• Research framework is the theoretical foundation guiding a research study.
• Research objectives are specific goals of the research study.

Definition of Terms

• Definition of terms refers to the meaning given to terms or concepts that are important in the development and understanding of the study.
• Effective studies need clear and precise definition of the key terms used in research.
• Technical definition refers to the aspect of explaining or describing technical terms or terminology, similar to dictionary definitions.
• Operational definition is a definition used in a specific research study or paper.

Grammar and Writing

• Adjectives usually come before a noun, except when a verb separates the adjective from the noun.
• Use the indefinite article "a/an" for countable nouns in general and the definite article "the" for specific countable nouns and all uncountable nouns.
• Use Simple past tense for actions, events, or feelings that happened at an earlier point in time or in a definite past.
• When using two or more adjectives together to describe a noun, the usual order is opinion adjective, fact adjective, noun.