DISTINGUISHING

TECHNICAL
TERMS USED IN
RESEARCH
 As time passes by your vocabulary grows even
wider and wider. Some are common and basic, but
as you move to a higher level such as going to
Grade 10, senior high school and tertiary level, the
words you use also move to a higher level.
Academically, you are encountering different words
and terminologies which are useful as you go along
your journey in studies and in the long run, you can
use them in your chosen career in the future.
This time you will get to know the technical terms
that would help you in developing or writing your
own research.
RESEARCH
• is defined as a systematic and scientific
process to answer questions about facts and
relationship between facts.
• It can also be defined as an activity involved
in seeking answer to unanswered questions.
RESEARCH

• It seeks to generate an answer to the

problems as well as suggesting
additional questions in need of further
inquiry.
 Aside from knowing the term research itself, knowing
other common research terminologies help you
understand how to read and interpret scholarly journal
articles so you can more effectively apply the results to
real life situations.
ANALYSIS

is a method of organizing, sorting, and

scrutinizing data in such a way that a research
question can be answered or meaningful
inferences can be drawn
BIBLIOGR
APHY

is a list of all the sources used in the

process of researching.
BIBLIOGRAPH
Y
CONCEPT

refers to a mental idea of a phenomenon.

These are words or terms that symbolize
some aspects of reality. e. g. love, pain
CONCLUSI
ON

provides a summary of the

research.
DATA

is an information that can be

words or numbers.
 DATA
GATHERING
TOOLS

refer to the devices/ instruments used to

collect data such as questionnaire or
computer- assisted interviewing system.
 DATA
PRESENTATI
ON

involves the use of a variety of

different graphical techniques.
 DATA
PRESENTATI
ON
 DATA
PRESENTATI
ON
DESCRIPTIV
E STUDY

is a research design that describes

“what is”( e.g. a survey).
 IN-TEXT
CITATION

is the brief form of the

reference included in the body
of one’s work.
 IN-TEXT
CITATION
LIMITATIO
NS
are restrictions in a study that may
decrease the credibility and
generalizability of the research
findings.
LITERATURE
REVIEW
is a critical summary or research on a topic of
interest, generally prepared to put a research
problem in context or to identify gaps and
weaknesses in prior studies so as to justify a
new investigation.
PLAGIARIS
M
is the unethical practice of using
words or ideas of another
author/researcher without proper
acknowledgement.
QUANTITATIVE
RESEARCH

is the process of collecting and

analyzing numerical data.
QUESTIONA
IRE

is a set of questions used to

gather information in a survey.
RESEARCH
TOPIC

is a subject or issue that a

researcher is interested in
when conducting a research.
RESPONDE
NTS
are those persons who have been
invited to participate in a particular
study and have actually taken part
in the study.
RESEARCH
QUESTION

is the question around which a

researcher centers his/ her
research.
SAMPLE
is a part or subset of
population selected to
participate in the research
study.
 DEMOGRAPHIC
PROFILE
includes age, sex, education,
migration, background and ethnicity,
religious affiliation, marital status,
household, employment, and income.
VARIABL
ES
are attributes or characteristics that can have
more than one value, such as height or
weight. These are qualities or quantities,
properties or characteristics of people, things,
or situations that change or vary.
INDEPENDENT
VARIABLE

that are purposely manipulated or changed by

the researcher. It is also called as
“Manipulated Variable.
 DEPENDENT
VARIABLE
variables that depend on other factors that are
measured. These variables are expected to
change as a result of an experimental
manipulation of the independent variable or
variables.
However, there are terms in research that are
abbreviated, these are the Latin words and
Non-English structures. Some of these
commonly used Latin terminologies in
research are the following:
Etc. (Et
Cetera)
It means “and so on”.
 E.g. (Exempli
Gratia)
It means “for example”, literally, it means “free as an example”.
Et al. (Et alii)
It means “and others”.
ib/ibid (ibedem)
It means “in the same passage or page quoted
above.” Literally, it means “in the same place”.