Common Terms and Terminologies in Research

Note: There are many more terms in research; however, the terms that will be
encountered for this quarter are the ones chosen for this list.

1. Abstract - This is a short summary of your completed research. It is

intended to describe your work without going into great detail. Abstracts
should be self-contained and concise, explaining your work as briefly and
clearly as possible.
2. Research introduction - This is where you set up your research topic and
approach for the reader. It has several key goals: present your topic and
get the reader interested; provide background or summarize existing
research; position your own approach; detail your specific research
problem; and give an overview of the paper’s structure.
3. Literature review - This is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It
provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify
relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research.
4. Research proposal - This describes what you will investigate, why it’s
important, and how you will do the research.
5. Research problem - This is a specific issue, difficulty, contradiction, or gap
in knowledge that you will aim to address in your research.
6. Quantitative research - This is an approach for testing objective theories
by examining the relationship among variables.
7. Qualitative research - This is an approach for exploring and
understanding the meaning individuals or groups ascribe to a social or
human problem.
8. Mixed-method research - This is an approach to inquiry involving
collecting both quantitative and qualitative data, integrating two forms of
data, and using distinct designs that may involve philosophical
assumptions and theoretical frameworks.
9. Methodology - This is the specific procedures or techniques used to
identify, select, process, and analyze information about a topic. In a
research paper, the methodology section allows the reader to critically
evaluate a study’s overall validity and reliability. The methodology section
answers two main questions: How was the data collected or generated?
How was it analyzed?

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 10. Sampling - This is a technique of selecting individual members or a subset
of the population to make statistical inferences from them and estimate
the characteristics of the whole population.
11. Population - This is the entire group that you want to draw conclusions
about.
12. Sample - This is the specific group that you will collect data from. The size
of the sample is always less than the total size of the population.
13. Data - This is any information that has been collected, observed,
generated, or created to validate original research findings.
14. Dependent variable - the variable that is changed or controlled
15. Independent variable - the variable that is being studied or measured
16. Constant - This is a value that remains the same, any aspect of an
experiment that a researcher intentionally keeps unchanged throughout
an experiment.

References:

Caulfield, J. (2020, November 19). How to write a research paper introduction.

Scribbr. https://www.scribbr.com/research-paper/research-paper-
introduction/#:%7E:text=The%20introduction%20to%20a
%20research,background%20or%20summarize%20existing
%20research&text=Detail%20your%20specific%20research%20problem

Cook, A. (2019, March 2). What Is a Constant in the Scientific Method?

Sciencing. https://sciencing.com/constant-scientific-method-8655782.html

Creswell, J. (2014). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed

methods approaches (4th Ed.). SAGE Publications, Inc.

LibGuides: Research Support: Research Methodology. (2022, January 12).

Research Support: Research Methodology.
https://libguides.wits.ac.za/c.php?g=693518&p=4914913#:
%7E:text=Research%20methodology%20is%20the%20specific,study’s
%20overall%20validity%20and%20reliability.

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McCombes, S. (2020, January 8). How to define your research problem. Scribbr.
https://www.scribbr.com/research-process/research-problem/

McCombes, S. (2021, August 27). How to write a literature review. Scribbr.

https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/

McCombes, S. (2021, June 11). How to write a research proposal. Scribbr.

https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/research-proposal/

Fleetwood, D. (2021, April 16). Types of Sampling: Sampling Methods with

Examples. QuestionPro. https://www.questionpro.com/blog/types-of-
sampling-for-social-research/

What Exactly is an Abstract? | U-M LSA Sweetland Center for Writing.

Retrieved February 5, 2022, from
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exactly-is-an-abstract-.html