Research Methods in Education Flashcards

1680472550	Theory	an organized body of concepts, generalizations, and principles that can be investigated	0
1680472551	Replication	repetition of a study using different subjects to retest its hypothesis	1
1680472552	Significant Study	one that contributes in some way to the improvement or understanding of educational theory or practice	2
1680472553	topic statement	generally describes the variables of interest, the specific relations among those variables, and ideally, important characteristics of the participants.	3
1680472554	Hypothesis	a researcher's prediction of the research findings, a statement of the researcher;s expectations about the relations among the variables in the research topic	4
1680472555	operational definitions	clarify important terms in a study so that all readers understand the precise meaning the researcher intends.	5
1680472556	inductive hypothesis	generalization based on specific observations	6
1680472557	deductive hypothesis	derived from theory and provides evidence that supports, expands or contradicts the theory	7
1680472558	non-directional hypothesis	states simply that a relation or difference between variables exists	8
1680472559	directional hypothesis	states the expected direction of the relation or difference	9
1680472560	null hypothesis	states that there is no significant relation or difference between variables	10
1680472561	guiding hypothesis	qualitative researchers that generate new hypotheses as a result of their studies rather than solidifying the intention of the research beforehand	11
1680472562	research plan	detailed description of a study proposed to investigate a given problem	12
1680472563	population	the larger group from which the sample will be selected	13
1680472564	instrument	a test or tool used for data collection and the instruments section of a research plan	14
1680472565	design	general strategy or plan for conducing a research study	15
1680472566	assumption	an assertion presumed to be true but not actually verified	16
1680472567	limitation	some aspect of the study that the researcher cannot control but believes may negatively affect the results of the study	17
1680472568	pilot study	small-scale trial of a study conducted before the full-scale study	18
1680472569	sample	a group of individuals, items or events that represent the characteristics of the larger group from which the sample is drawn.	19
1680472570	sampling	the process of selecting a sample	20
1680472571	generalizable	the results of the research will be applicable to other samples selected from the same population	21
1680472572	representative sample	A sample that accurately reflects the characteristics of the population as a whole	22
1680472573	target population	the population to which the researcher would ideally like to generalize study results	23
1680472574	accessible population	the population from which the researcher can realistically select subjects	24
1680472575	probability sampling	the techniques used that permit the researcher to specify the probability or chance that each member of a defined population will be selected for the sample	25
1680472576	simple random sampling	the process of selecting a sample in such a way that all individuals in the defined population have an equal and independent chance of selection for the sample	26
1680472577	stratified sampling	a way to guarantee desired representation of relevant subgroups within the sample	27
1680472578	strata	the name of the population that is subdivided into subgroups	28
1680472579	proportional stratified sampling	process of selecting a sample in such a way that identified subgroups in the population are represented in the same proportion in which they exists in the population.	29
1680472580	cluster sampling	intact groups, not individuals, are randomly selected	30
1680472581	cluster	any location within which we find an intact group of a population members with similar characteristics	31
1680472582	multistage sampling	sampling that can be carried out in stages (i.e. the steps to select clusters from other clusters)	32
1680472583	systematic sampling	sampling in which every kth individual is selected from a list	33
1680472584	sampling error	the chance variation when a sample differs significantly from the population on some important variable	34
1680472585	sampling bias	systematic sampling error that is generally the fault of the researchers. occurs when some aspect of the sampling creates a bias in the data	35
1680472586	nonprobability sampling	process of selecting a sample using a technique that does not permit the researcher to specify the probabilist or chance that each member of a population has of being selected for the sample	36
1680472587	convenience sampling	process of including whoever happens to be available at the time.	37
1680472588	purposive sampling	process of selecting a sample that is believed to be representative of a given population	38
1680472589	quota sampling	the process of selecting a sample based on required exact numbers of individuals or groups with varying characteristics	39
1680472590	quotas	exact numbers	40
1680472591	qualitative sampling	process of selecting a small number of individuals for a study in such a way that the individuals chosen will be good key informants who will contribute to the researcher's understanding of a given phenomenon	41
1680472592	data saturation	when the researcher begins to hear the same thoughts, perspectives, and responses from most or all participants, additional participants are not needed at least for that particular topic or issue	42
1680472593	intensity sampling	select participants who permit study of different levels of the research topic	43
1680472594	homogenous sampling	select participants who are very similar in experience, perspective, or outlook, this produces a narrow homogenous sample and makes date collection and analysis simple	44
1680472595	criterion sampling	selecting all cases that meet some set of criteria or ahave some characteristic	45
1680472596	snowball sampling	select a few people who fit a researcher's needs then using those participants to identify additional participants and so on until the researcher has a sufficient number of participants	46
1680472597	random purposive sampling	selecting more particpants than needed for the study	47
1680472598	vignette	brief evocative description account or episode	48
1680472599	data	pieces of information you collect and use to examine your topic hypothesis or observation	49
1680472600	construct	an abstraction that cannot be observed directly, invented to explain behavior	50
1680472601	variable	a placeholder that can assume any one of a range of values, at least two values or scores.	51
1680472602	measurement scale	a system for organizing data so that it may be inspected, analyzed and interpreted	52
1680472603	nominal variable	values that includes two or more named categories, often represented by numbers	53
1680472604	ordinal variables	not only classifies person or objects but ranks them from highest to lowest or from most to least, unequal units	54
1680472605	interval variable	all the characteristics of a nominal and ordinal variable but value is represented in equal intervals. no true zero point	55
1680472606	ratio variable	named categories, ranked highest to lowest or from most to least, equal intervals and true zero point	56
1680472607	quantitative variables	exists on a continuum that ranges from low to high or less to more. ordinal interval and ratio variables are this	57
1680472608	dependent variable	in an experimental study is the variable hypothesized to depend on or to be caused by another variable	58
1680472609	independent variable	always the hypothesized cause of the dependent variable	59
1680472610	test	formal systematic procedure for gathering information about peoples cognitive and affective characteristics	60
1680472611	cognitive characteristic	a mental characteristic related to intellect	61
1680472612	affective characteristic	mental characteristic related to emotion	62
1680472613	standardized test	one that is administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way no matter where or when it is used	63
1680472614	assessment	broad term that encompasses the entire process of collecting, synthesizing and interpreting information	64
1680472615	measurement	the process of quantifying or scoring performance on an assessment instrument, occurs after data are collected	65
1680472616	selection methods	test taker has to select from among a set of given answers	66
1680472617	supply methods	test take has to give an answer	67
1680472618	performance assesment	type of assessment that emphasizes a student process or product	68
1680472619	raw score	the number or point value of items a person answered correctly on an assessment	69
1680472620	norm-referenced scoring	a student's performance on an assessment is compared to the performance of others	70
1680472621	grading on the curve	bell shaped distribution of the percentages of students who received each grade	71
1680472622	criterion-referenced scoring	an individuals performance on an assessment is compared to a predetermined external standard rather than to the performance of others	72
1680472623	self-referenced scoring approaches	measuring how an individual students performance on a single assessment changes over time	73
1680472624	mental measurement year book	a major source of test information for educational researchers	74
1680472625	cognitive test	measures intellectual processes	75
1680472626	achievement test	measures an individual's current proficiency in given areas of knowledge or skill	76
1680472627	diagnostic test	yields multiple scores to facilitate identification of a student's weak and strong areas within the subject area	77
1680472628	aptitude test	a test used to predict how well an individual is likely to perform in a future situation	78
1680472629	affective test	assessment designed to measure affective mental characteristics related to emotion	79
1680472630	values	deeply held beliefs about ideas persons or objects	80
1680472631	attitudes	indicate our favorable or unfavorable feelings, reflect our tendencies to accept or reject groups ideas or objects	81
1680472632	interests	indicated the degree to which we seek out or desire to participate in particular activities, objects and ideas	82
1680472633	personality	made up of a number of characteristics that represent a person's typical behaviors	83
1680472634	attitude scale	an instrument that measures what an individual believes, perceives, or feels about self other activities, institutions, or situations	84
1680472635	likert scale	requires an individual to respond to a series of statements by indicating whether he or she strongly agrees	85
1680472636	semantic differential scale	requires an individual to indicate his or her attitude about a topic by selecting a position on a continuum that ranges from one bipolar adjective to another.	86
1680472637	rating scale	used to measure a respondent's attitudes toward self, others, activities, institutions, or self	87
1680472638	thurstone scale	requires participants to select from a list of statements that represent different points of view on a topic	88
1680472639	guttman scale	requires respondents to agree or disagree with a number of statements	89
1680472640	unidimensional scale	produces a cumulative scale in which an individual who agrees with a given statement also agrees with all related preceding statements	90
1680472641	interest inventory	requires participants to indicate personal likes and dislikes	91
1680472642	personality inventory	includes questions or statements that describe behaviors characteristics of certain personality traits	92
1680472643	response set	tendency of an individual to respond in a particular way to a variety of interments	93
1680472644	bias	distortion of research data that renders the data suspect or invalid	94
1680472645	validity	the degree to which a test measures what is supposed to measure and consequently permits appropriate interpretations of scores	95
1680472646	content validity	degree to which a test measures an intended content area	96
1680472647	item validity	concerned with whether the test items are relevant to the measurement of the indented content area	97
1680472648	sampling validity	concerned with ho well the test samples the total content area being tested	98
1680472649	face validity	refers to the degree to which a test appears to measure what it claims to measure	99
1680472650	criterion-related validity	determined by relating performance on a test to performance on a second test or other measure	100
1680472651	concurrent validity	degree to which scores on one test are related to the scores on a similar preexisting test administered in the same time frame or to some other valid measure available at the same time	101
1680472652	predictive validity	degree to which a test can predict how well an individual will do in future situation	102
1680472653	predictior	the variable upon which the prediction is based	103
1680472654	criterion	predicted variable which must be a valid measure of the performance to be predicted	104
1680472655	construct validity	reflects the degree to which a test measures an intended hypothetical construct	105
1680472656	consequential validity	the extent to which an instrument creates harmful effects for the user	106
1680472657	standards for education and pyschological testing manual	a comprehensive list of 24 validity standards that if met allow educational researchers to make robust claims about the context specific interpretations they make	107
1680472658	stability	degree to which scores on the same test are consistent over time, also known as test-retest reliability	108
1680472659	equivalence	equivalent-forms reliability is the degree to which two similar forms of a test produce similar scores from a single group of test takers	109
1680472660	internal consistency reliability	the extent to which items in a single test are consistent among themselves and with a test as a whole	110
1680472661	split-half reliability	a measure of internal consistency that involves dividing a test into two halves and correlating the scores on the two halves	111
1680472662	Kuder-Richardson 20 (Kr 20)	special case formula, estimate internal consistency reliability by determining how all items on a test relate to all other test items and to the total test	112
1680472663	Cronbach's alpha	general formula if items can have more than two scores, estimate internal consistency reliability by determining how all items on a test relate to all other test items and to the total test	113
1680472664	Kuder-Richardson 21 (KR-21)	alternative method to Kuder and Richardson	114
1680472665	standard error of measurement	estimate of how often one can expect errors of a given size in an individual's test score	115
1680472666	Tests in Print	comprehensive bibliography of all known commercially available tests that are currently in print.	116