A logical inference of a conclusion (or special case of inductive reasoning) that likely follows (but doesn't necessarily follow) from the provided premises and provides a reasonable explanation of the mechanism by which the conclusion follows.
A research methodology that seeks transformative change by iteratively acting toward change and doing research on the effectiveness of methods within authentic, situated contexts.
A technique for ensuring rigor in which the researcher collects field notes or records of what is done, seen, heard, thought, etc. throughout the course of a study.
A psychological phenomenon wherein a person may believe that generic statements that are universally accurate are true of them in a personal manner, often used by charlatans to convince victims that they have supernatural powers.
A tendency to interpret new evidences as supporting or confirming existing theories and paradigms (often ignoring contradictory evidence or negative cases).
A threat to validity in which the biases or goals of a researcher, or potential benefits to them personally (especially in the case of monetary gain), may jeopardize the legitimacy or perceived legitimacy of their work.
A non-normative approach to ethics that holds that what is held to be right and good is merely determined by social contracts that are shared between people.
An approach to sampling, common in design and professional practices, that chooses subjects that are accessible to the researcher, such as testing with a colleague, interviewing a spouse, etc.
A relationship between two variables that does not imply directional influence (e.g., life satisfaction is correlated to educational attainment, but it is not clear if one causes the other).
A research paradigm that deconstructs power structures that have historically been used to oppress, marginalize, or disenfranchise people according to various factors (e.g., race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, gender).
A research programme which either does not make novel predictions or which makes novel predictions that are systematically proven wrong (cf., Lakatos).
An approach to ethics that holds that the morality of an action should be determined by its duty-bound adherence to particular laws or norms of behavior.
An expectation that the researcher is thoughtful and methodical, following key standards and norms that are generally accepted by other researchers who use similar methodologies.
Also known as a false dichotomy, a logical fallacy in which only two possible solutions are provided (when there might actually be many more possibilities), intending to lead the audience to choose the more reasonable of the two.
Typically treated as a threat to validity, a situation arising in which a researcher might allow their findings or attitudes in one area (e.g., "Julie is good at math") to influence their findings in another area (e.g., "Julie is probably good at science").
Typically treated as a threat to validity, a situation arising in observational research in which the subject being observed changes their behavior because they know they are being observed.
The input variable or the variable being manipulated or tried (e.g., an intervention) or that is a static characteristic of the population (e.g., a demographic factor).
A logical inference of a conclusion that likely follows (but doesn't necessarily follow) from the provided premises, generally from evidence of experience, frequency, or statistics.
The complex interrelationship of factors or categorizations (e.g., race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic class) that comprise a person's experiences of privilege, oppression, discrimination, etc.
An assumption that knowing is a subjectively mediated process both between the subject (observer) and the world and also between different subjects (observers).
A technique for ensuring credibility wherein the researcher provides data records, interpretations, and results to the participants being studied to allow for alignment between the researcher's and the participant's understandings.
A belief that society enables people to achieve in life according to their merit (e.g., hard work, grit, determination), often formulated to suggest that success is due to merit and that lack of success is due to lack of merit.
The specific procedure, action, or steps taken when doing research, such as distributing a survey, conducting an interview, or statistically analyzing numeric data.
The technical guidelines followed when performing methods, such as how a survey instrument should be constructed, how an interview should be conducted, or how data should be validly analyzed.
A process by which the experiences and lives of people are relegated to less-privileged positions in society (even if those people make up a numeric majority).
A non-normative approach to ethics that holds that what is right and good is only ever determined by references to individual or cultural norms or contexts.
A technique for ensuring credibility wherein the researcher intentionally seeks for cases that contradict their hypotheses and initial conclusions, thereby ensuring that exceptions are accounted for in final conclusions.
An assumption that people can directly observe the world, or facts or truths in it, in an unbiased fashion and have an accurate knowledge of what they are observing.
A model or pattern we follow when conducting research, including both our surface-level methods as well as our deeper, often hidden, beliefs, attitudes, expectations, and values.
A technique for ensuring credibility wherein the researcher experiences phenomena consistently and deeply, allowing them to recognize importance and irrelevance.
The group facing the problem researchers are trying to solve or to whom researchers will generalize their results (e.g., K-12 students), represented by the uppercase "N" variable.
A technique for ensuring credibility wherein the researcher experiences phenomena long enough to minimize distortions and ensure proper breadth of understanding.
A threat to validity in which the people or data actually being studied (i.e., the sample) do not accurately represent those to whom results are being applied (i.e., the population), such as if a study included only participants representing one socioeconomic, racial, ethnic, age, ability, or cultural group and applied results to others.
The point in qualitative research wherein no additional categories are being developed or no novel findings are arising, suggesting that the researcher can reasonably stop sampling new participants.
An assumption that people can only understand the world as a mediated process of knowing that is directed by the biases, attitudes, expectations, and experiences of the subject or observer.
An approach to education that strips away aspects of minoritized students' cultures and identities rather than building upon them (such as the devaluing of indigenous perspectives or the unlearning of home languages).
A process by which sensitive, private, or complex information is made nonsensitive, de-identified, or manageable through the use of tokens as identifiers (e.g., pseudonyms, numbers).
An unsuccessful approach to diversity and inclusivity that essentializes a person's identity and expects them to serve as a spokesperson for a larger group (e.g., asking a woman to serve on a board of directors only because she is a woman and expecting her to represent all women).
A technique for ensuring credibility wherein the researcher verifies results across multiple data sources, multiple methods, and/or multiple co-researchers.
An expectation in qualitative methodologies that the researcher should provide enough explanation, transparency, and evidence that their results can be confidently believed.
The consequentialist stance that moral behavior consists of doing what will have the greatest effect, typically in terms of doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
An approach to ethics that holds that the morality of an action should be determined by its relationship to the moral agent's development or expression of fundamental virtues.
This content is provided to you freely by BYU Open Learning Network.