scientific observation The systematic process of recording the behavioral patterns of people, objects, and occurrences as they are

witnessed.

visible observation Situation in which the observer's presence is known to the subject.

hidden observation Situation in which the subject is unaware that observation is taking place.

direct observation A straightforward attempt to observe and record what naturally occurs; the investigator does not create an artificial situation.

observer bias A distortion of measurement resulting from the cognitive behavior or actions of the witnessing observer.

response latency The time it takes to decide between two alternatives; used as a measure of the strength of preference.

response latency Observation in which the investigator creates an artificial environment in order to test a hypothesis.

response latency Observation in which the investigator creates an artificial environment in order to test a hypothesis.

participant observation Situation in which an observer gains firsthand knowledge by being in or around the social setting being investigated.

physical-trace evidence A visible mark of some past event or occurrence.

mechanical observation Observation technique that uses video cameras, traffic counters, and other machines to record behavior.

content analysis A research technique for the objective, systematic, and quantitative description of the manifest content of communication.

pupilometer A device used to observe and record changes in the diameter of the pupils of the eyes.

psychogalvanometer A device that measures galvanic skin response (GSR), involuntary changes in the electrical resistance of the skin.

voice pitch analysis A physiological measurement technique that records abnormal frequencies in the voice that are supposed to reflect emotional reactions to various stimuli.

Chapter 13
concept A generalized idea about a class of objects, attributes, occurrences, or processes.

operational definition A definition that gives meaning to a concept by specifying the activities or operations necessary in order to measure it.

rule of measurement An instruction to guide assignment of a number or other measurement designation.

nominal scale A scale in which the numbers or letters assigned to objects serve as labels for identification or classification; a measurement scale of the simplest type.

ordinal scale A scale that arranges objects or alternatives according to their magnitudes.

interval scale A scale that not only arranges objects or alternatives according to their magnitudes but also distinguishes this ordered arrangement in units of equal intervals.

ratio scale A scale having absolute rather than relative quantities and possessing an absolute zero, where there is an absence of a given attribute.

attribute A single characteristic or fundamental feature of an object, person, situation, or issue.

index (composite) measure Multi-item instrument constructed to measure a single concept; also called a composite measure.

reliability The degree to which measures are free from error and therefore yield consistent results.

test-retest method The administering of the same scale or measure to the same respondents at two separate points in time in order to test for reliability.

split-half method A method of measuring the degree of internal consistency by checking one half of the results of a set of scaled items against the other half.

equivalent-form method A method of measuring the correlation between alternative instruments, designed to be as equivalent as possible, administered to the same group of subjects.

validity The ability of a scale or measuring instrument to measure what it is intended to measure.

ratio scale A scale having absolute rather than relative quantities and possessing an absolute zero, where there is an absence of a given attribute.

face (content) validity Professional agreement that a scale logically appears to accurately measure what it is intended to measure.

criterion validity The ability of some measure to correlate with other measures of the same construct.

concurrent validity A type of criterion validity whereby a new measure correlates with a criterion measure taken at the same time.

predictive validity A type of criterion validity whereby a new measure predicts a future event or correlates with a criterion measure administered at a later time.

construct validity The ability of a measure to confirm a network of related hypotheses generated from a theory based on the concepts.

discriminant validity The ability of some measure to have a low correlation with measures of dissimilar concepts.

sensitivity A measurement instrument's ability to accurately measure variability in stimuli or responses.

Chapter 14
attitude An enduring disposition to consistently respond in a given manner to various aspects of the world; composed of affective, cognitive, and behavioral components.

affective component The component of attitude that reflects one's general feelings or emotions toward an object.

cognitive component The component of attitude that represents one's awareness of and knowledge about an object.

behavioral component The component of attitude that includes buying intentions and behavioral expectations; reflects a predisposition to action.

hypothetical construct A variable that is not directly observable but is measured through indirect indicators, such as verbal expression or overt behavior.

ranking A measurement task that requires that the respondents rank order a small number of activities, events, or objects on the basis of overall preference or some characteristic of the stimulus.

rating A measurement task that requires the respondent to estimate the magnitude of a characteristic or quality that an object possesses.

sorting technique A measurement technique that presents a respondent with several concepts printed on cards and requires the respondent to arrange the cards into a number of piles to classify the concepts.

choice technique A measurement task that identifies preferences by requiring respondents to choose between two or more alternatives.

category scale An attitude scale consisting of several response categories to provide the respondent with alternative ratings.

Likert scale A measure of attitudes designed to allow respondents to indicate how strongly they agree or disagree with carefully constructed statements that range from very positive to very negative toward an attitudinal object.

semantic differential An attitude measure consisting of a series of seven-point bipolar rating scales allowing response to a concept.

numerical scale An attitude rating scale similar to a semantic differential except that it uses numbers instead of verbal descriptions as response options to identify response positions.

constant-sum scale A measure of attitudes in which respondents are asked to divide a constant sum to indicate the relative importance of attributes.

Stapel scale An attitude measure that places a single adjective in the center of an even number of numerical values.

graphic rating scale A measure of attitude consisting of a graphic continuum that allows respondents to rate an object by choosing any point on the continuum.

behavioral differential An instrument developed to measure the behavioral intentions of subjects toward an object or category of objects.

behavioral differential An instrument developed to measure the behavioral intentions of subjects toward an object or category of objects.

paired comparison A measurement technique that involves presenting the respondent with two objects and asking the respondent to pick the preferred object. More than two objects may be presented, but comparisons are made in pairs.

monadic rating scale Any measure of attitudes that asks respondents about a single concept in isolation.

comparative rating scale Any measure of attitudes that asks respondents to rate a concept in comparison with a benchmark explicitly used as a frame of reference.

balanced rating scale A fixed-alternative rating scale that has an equal number of positive and negative categories; a neutral or indifference point is at the center of the scale.

unbalanced rating scale A fixed-alternative rating scale that has more response categories piled up at one end of the scale and an unequal number of positive and negative categories.

forced-choice scale A fixed-alternative rating scale that requires respondents to choose one of the fixed alternatives.

Chapter 15
open-ended response question A question that poses some problem and asks the respondent to answer in his or her own words.

fixed-alternative question A question in which the respondent is given specific limited-alternative responses and asked to choose the one closest to his or her own viewpoint.

simple-dichotomy question A fixed-alternative question that requires the respondent to choose one of two alternatives.

determinant-choice question A type of fixed-alternative question that requires a respondent to choose one (and only one) response from among several possible alternatives.

frequency-determination question A type of fixed-alternative question that asks for an answer about general frequency of occurrence.

attitude rating scale Measures used to rate attitudes, such as the Likert scale, semantic differential, and Stapel scale.

checklist question A type of fixed-alternative question that allows the respondent to provide multiple answers to a single question.

leading question A question that suggests or implies certain answers.

loaded question A question that suggests a socially desirable answer or is emotionally charged.

counterbiasing statement An introductory statement or preface to a question that reduces a respondent's reluctance to answer potentially embarrassing questions.

split-ballot technique A technique used to control for response bias. Two alternative phrasings of the same questions are utilized for respective halves of the sample to yield a more accurate total response than would be possible if only a single phrasing were utilized.

double-barreled question A question that may induce bias because it covers two issues at once.

order bias Bias caused by the influence of earlier questions in a questionnaire or by an answer's position in a set of answers.

funnel technique Asking general questions before specific questions in order to obtain unbiased responses.

filter question A question in a questionnaire that screens out respondents not qualified to answer a second question.

pivot question A filter question used to determine which version of a second question will be asked.

push button On an Internet questionnaire, a small outlined area, such as a rectangle or an arrow, that the respondent clicks on to select an option or perform a function, such as Submit.

status bar In an Internet questionnaire, a visual indicator that tells the respondent what portion of the survey he or she has completed.

radio button In an Internet questionnaire, a circular icon, resembling a button, that activates one response choice and deactivates others when a respondent clicks on it.

drop-down box In an Internet questionnaire, a space-saving device that reveals responses when they are needed but otherwise hides them from view.

check box In an Internet questionnaire, a small graphic box, next to an answer, that a respondent clicks on to choose that answer; typically, a check mark or an X appears in the box when the respondent clicks on it.

open-ended box In an Internet questionnaire, a box where respondents can type in their own answers to open-ended questions.

pop-up boxes In an Internet questionnaire, boxes that appear at selected points and contain information or instructions for respondents.

variable piping software Software that allows variables to be inserted into an Internet questionnaire as a respondent is completing it.

error trapping Using software to control the flow of an Internet questionnaire-for example, to prevent respondents from backing up or failing to answer a question.

interactive help desk In an Internet questionnaire, a live, real-time support feature that solves problems or answers questions respondents may encounter in completing the questionnaire.

preliminary tabulation Tabulation of the results of a pretest.

back translation Taking a questionnaire that has previously been translated into another language and then having a second, independent translator translate it back into the original language.

Chapter 16
sampling The process of using a small number of items or parts of a larger population to make conclusions about the whole population.

sample A subset, or some part, of a larger population.

population (universe) A complete group of entities sharing some common set of characteristics.

population element An individual member of a specific population.

census An investigation of all the individual elements making up a population.

target population The specific, complete group relevant to the research project.

sampling frame The list of elements from which a sample may be drawn; also called working population.

mailing list A list of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of specific populations.

reverse directory A directory similar to a telephone directory in which listings are by city and street address or by telephone numbers rather than alphabetical by last name.

sampling frame error Error that occurs when certain sample elements are not listed or available and are not represented in the sampling frame.

sampling unit A single element or group of elements subject to selection in the sample.

primary sampling unit (PSU) A unit selected in the first stage of sampling.

secondary sampling unit A unit selected in the second stage of sampling.

random sampling error The difference between the sample result and the result of a census conducted using identical procedures; a statistical fluctuation that occurs because of chance variation in the elements selected for a sample.

systematic (nonsampling) error Error resulting from some imperfect aspect of the research design that causes response error or from a mistake in the execution of the research; error that comes from such sources as sample bias, mistakes in recording responses, and nonresponses from persons who were not contacted or who refused to participate.

nonresponse error The statistical difference between a survey that includes only those who responded and a survey that also includes those who failed to respond.

probability sampling A sampling technique in which every member of the population has a known, nonzero probability of selection.

nonprobability sampling A sampling technique in which units of the sample are selected on the basis of personal judgment or convenience.

convenience sampling The sampling procedure used to obtain those units or people most conveniently available.

judgment (purposive) sampling A nonprobability sampling technique in which an experienced individual selects the sample based upon some appropriate characteristic of the sample members.

quota sampling A nonprobability sampling procedure that ensures that certain characteristics of a population sample will be represented to the exact extent that the investigator desires.

snowball sampling A sampling procedure in which initial respondents are selected by probability methods and additional respondents are obtained from information provided by the initial respondents.

simple random sampling A sampling procedure that assures each element in the population an equal chance of being included in the sample.

systematic sampling A sampling procedure in which an initial starting point is selected by a random process, and then every nth number on the list is selected.

sampling interval The number of population elements between units selected for the sample.

periodicity A problem that occurs in systematic sampling when the original list has a systematic pattern.

stratified sampling A probability sampling procedure in which simple random subsamples are drawn from within different strata that are more or less equal on some characteristic.

proportional stratified sample A stratified sample in which the number of sampling units drawn from each stratum is in proportion to the population size of that stratum.

disproportional stratified sample A stratified sample in which the sample size for each stratum is allocated according to analytical considerations.

cluster sampling An economically efficient sampling technique in which the primary sampling unit is not the individual element in the population but a large cluster of elements.

area sample A cluster sample in which the primary sampling unit is a geographic area.

multistage area sampling Sampling that involves using a combination of other probability sampling techniques.

opt in To give permission to receive selected e-mail, such as questionnaires, from a company with an Internet presence.

CHAPTER 17
descriptive statistics Statistics used to describe or summarize information about a population or sample.

inferential statistics Statistics used to make inferences or judgments about a population on the basis of a sample.

sample statistics Variables in a sample or measures computed from sample data.

population parameter Variables in a population or measured characteristics of the population.

frequency distribution (table) A set of data organized by summarizing the number of times a particular value of a variable occurs.

percentage distribution A frequency distribution organized into a table (or graph) that summarizes percentage values associated with particular values of a variable.

probability distribution The organization of probability values associated with particular values of a variable into a table (or graph).

proportion The percentage of population elements that successfully meet some criterion.

mean A measure of central tendency; the arithmetic average.

median A measure of central tendency that is the midpoint; the value below which half the values in a sample fall.

mode A measure of central tendency; the value that occurs most often.

range The distance between the smallest and largest values of a frequency distribution.

standard deviation A quantitative index of a distribution's spread or variability; the square root of the variance.

average deviation A measure of dispersion that is computed by calculating the deviation score of each observation value, summing up the deviation scores, and dividing by the sample size.

variance A measure of variability or dispersion. The square root is the standard deviation.

normal distribution A symmetrical, bell-shaped distribution that describes the expected probability distribution of many chance occurrences.

standardized normal distribution A normal curve with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. It is a theoretical probability distribution.

population distribution A frequency distribution of the elements of a population.

sample distribution A frequency distribution of the elements of a sample.

sampling distribution A theoretical probability distribution of all possible samples of a certain size drawn from a particular population.

standard error of the mean The standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the mean.

central-limit theorem The theory stating that as a sample size increases, the distribution of sample means of size n, randomly selected, approaches a normal distribution.

point estimate An estimate of the population mean in the form of a single value, usually the sample mean.

confidence interval estimate A specified range of numbers within which a population mean is expected to lie; the set of acceptable hypotheses or the level of probability associated with an interval estimate.

confidence level A percentage or decimal value that tells how confident a researcher can be about being correct. It states the long-run percentage of the time that a confidence interval will include the true population mean.

range of possible random error The potential difference between a population mean and an observed value.

sample size The size of a sample; the number of observations or cases specified by (1) the estimated variance of the population, (2) the magnitude of acceptable error, and (3) the confidence level.

standard error of the proportion The standard deviation of the sampling distribution of the proportion.

CHAPTER 18
fieldworker An individual responsible for gathering data in the field; for example, a personal interviewer administering a door-to-door questionnaire.

field interviewing service A research supplier that specializes in gathering data.

briefing session A training session to ensure that all interviewers are provided with common information.

training interview A practice session during which an inexperienced fieldworker records answers on a questionnaire to develop skills and clarify project requirements.

foot-in-the-door compliance technique Based on foot-in-the-door theory, which attempts to explain compliance with a large or difficult task on the basis of the respondent's prior compliance with a smaller request.

door-in-the-face compliance technique A two-step method for securing a high response rate. In step 1 an initial request, so large that nearly everyone refuses it, is made. In step 2 a second request is made for a smaller favor; respondents are expected to comply with this more reasonable request.

probing The verbal prompts made by a fieldworker when the respondent must be motivated to communicate his or her answer or to enlarge on, clarify, or explain an answer.

sampling verification A fieldwork supervision task that requires checking to assure that samples conform to a project's sampling plan.

interviewer cheating The practice by fieldworkers of filling in fake answers or falsifying interviews.

verification by reinterviewing A fieldwork supervision task that requires recontacting respondents to assure that interviews were properly conducted.

CHAPTER 19

information A body of facts that are in a format suitable for decision making.

data Recorded measures of certain phenomena.

editing The process of making data ready for coding and transfer to data storage. Its purpose is to ensure the completeness, consistency, and reliability of data.

field editing Preliminary editing by a field supervisor on the same day as the interview; its purpose is to catch technical omissions, check legibility of handwriting, and clarify responses that are logically or conceptually inconsistent.

in-house editing A rigorous editing job performed by centralized office staff.

item nonresponse The technical term for an unanswered question on an otherwise complete questionnaire.

plug value An answer inserted according to a predetermined decision rule, if an editor finds a missing answer where there can be no missing values.

coding The process of identifying and classifying each answer with a numerical score or other character symbol.

code A rule used for interpreting, classifying, and recording data in the coding processes; the numerical or other symbol assigned to raw data.

field A collection of characters that represents a single type of data.

record A collection of related fields.

file A collection of related records.

data matrix A rectangular arrangement of data into rows and columns.

direct data entry The use of a computer terminal as an input device for data storage.

postcoding Determination of a framework for classifying responses to questions after editing, because coded categories cannot be established before data collection.

test tabulation Tallying of a small sample of the total number of replies to a particular question during the coding process in order to construct coding categories.

code book A book identifying each variable in a study and its position in the data matrix. The book is used to identify a variable's description, code name, and field.

production coding The physical activity of transferring the data from the questionnaire or data collection form after the data have been collected.

coding sheet A ruled sheet of paper used to transfer data from questionnaires or data collection forms after data have been collected.

data entry The process of transferring data from a research project to computers.

optical scanning system A data processing input device that reads material directly from mark sensed questionnaires.

recoding Changing codes to facilitate analysis.

CHAPTER 20
descriptive analysis The transformation of raw data into a form that will make them easy to understand and interpret; rearranging, ordering, manipulating data to provide descriptive information.

simple tabulation Counting the number of different responses to a question and arranging them in a frequency distribution.

frequency table A simple tabulation that indicates the frequency with which respondents give a particular answer.

percentage A part of a whole expressed in hundredths.

cumulative percentage A percentage (or percentage distribution) that has increased by successive additions.

frequency distribution A set of data organized by summarizing the number of times a particular value of a variable occurs.

cross-tabulation Organizing data by groups, categories, or classes to facilitate comparisons; a joint frequency distribution of observations on two or more sets of variables.

contingency table The results of a cross-tabulation of two variables, such as answers to two survey questions.

base (base number) The number of respondents or observations that indicate a total; used as a basis for computing percentages in each column or row in a cross-tabulation table.

elaboration analysis An analysis of the basic cross-tabulation for each level of a variable not previously considered, perhaps subgroups of the sample.

moderator variable A third variable that, when introduced into an analysis, alters or has a contingent effect on the relationship between an independent variable and a dependent variable.

spurious relationship An apparent relationship between two variables that is not authentic, but appears authentic because an elaboration analysis with a third variable has not yet been conducted.

quadrant analysis A variation of the cross-tabulation table in which responses to two rating scale questions are plotted in four quadrants on a two-dimensional table.

data transformation The process of changing data from their original form to a format that better supports data analysis to achieve research objectives. Also called data conversion.

index number Data summary values based on data for some base period to facilitate comparisons over time.

computer map A computer-generated map that portrays a variable, such as demographic data, in two or three dimensions.

box and whisker plot A graphic device that represents central tendencies, percentiles, variability, and frequency distributions.

interquartile range The part of a data distribution between the 25th and 75th percentiles; also called the midspread.

outlier A value that lies outside the normal range of a set of data.

interpretation The process of making inferences and drawing conclusions concerning the meaning and implications of a research investigation.

CHAPTER 21

hypothesis An unproven proposition or supposition that tentatively explains certain facts or phenomena; a proposition that is empirically testable.

null hypothesis A statement about a status quo asserting that any change from what has been thought to be true will be due entirely to random error.

alternative hypothesis A statement indicating the opposite of the null hypothesis.

significance level The critical probability in choosing between the null and alternative hypotheses; the probability level that is too low to warrant support of the null hypothesis.

critical values The values that lie exactly on the boundary of the region of rejection.

Type I error An error caused by rejecting the null hypothesis when it is true.

Type II error An error caused by failing to reject the null hypothesis when the alternative hypothesis is true.

univariate data analysis A type of analysis that assesses the statistical significance of a hypothesis about a single variable.

bivariate data analysis A type of analysis and hypothesis testing used in the simultaneous investigation of two variables using tests of differences or measures of association between two variables at a time.

multivariate data analysis Statistical methods that allow the simultaneous investigation of more than two variables.

parametric statistical procedures Statistical procedures that use interval-scaled or ratio-scaled data and assume populations or sampling distributions with normal distributions.

nonparametric statistical procedures Statistical procedures that use nominal- or ordinal-scaled data and make no assumptions about the distribution of the population (or sampling distribution) .

t-distribution A family of symmetrical, bell-shaped distributions with a mean of 0 and a standard deviation of 1, used when the population standard deviation is unknown or when testing a hypothesis with a small sample size.

degrees of freedom (d.f.) The number of constraints or assumptions needed to calculate a statistical term.

t-test A univariate hypothesis test using the t-distribution rather than the Z-distribution. It is used when the population standard deviation is unknown and the sample size is small.

chi-square test A test that statistically determines significance in the analysis of frequency distributions.

hypothesis test of a proportion A statistical test of a hypothesis about a proportion of a population based on data for a sample from the population.

CHAPTER 22
test of differences Investigation of a hypothesis that states that two (or more) groups differ with respect to measures on a variable.

bivariate statistics Tests of differences or measures of association between two variables at a time.

chi-square (x2) test A test that statistically determines significance in the analysis of frequency distributions.

cell Section of a table representing a specific combination of two variables or a specific value of a variable.

t-test for difference of means A technique used to test the hypothesis that the mean scores on some intervalscaled variable are significantly different for two independent samples or groups.

pooled estimate of the standard error An estimate of the standard error based on the assumption that variances of both groups (populations) are equal.

Z-test for differences of proportions A technique used to test the hypothesis that proportions are significantly different for two independent samples or groups.

analysis of variance (ANOVA) Analysis of the effects of one treatment variable on an interval-scaled or ratioscaled dependent variable; a technique to determine if statistically significant differences in means occur between two or more groups.

F-test A procedure used to determine if there is more variability in the scores of one sample than in the scores of another sample.

F-statistic A test statistic that measures the ratio of one sample variance to another sample variance, such as the variance between groups to the variance within groups.

total variance In analysis of variance, the sum of within-group variance and between-group variance.

within-group variance Variation of scores within a group due to random error or individual difference.

between-group variance Variation of scores between groups due either to the manipulation of an independent variable or to characteristics of the independent variable.

CHAPTER 23
measures of association Statistical values designed to represent covariation between variables.

simple correlation coefficient A statistical measure of the covariation, or association, between two variables.

coefficient of determination (r2) A measure of that portion of the total variance of a variable that is accounted for by knowing the value of another variable.

correlation matrix The standard form for reporting correlational results.

bivariate linear regression A measure of linear association that investigates straight-line relationships of the type Y = a + bX, where Y is the dependent variable, X is the independent variable, and a and b are two constants to be estimated.

intercept The Y intercept; the point at which a regression line intersects the Y-axis.

slope The inclination of a regression line as compared to a base line, rise (vertical distance) over run (horizontal difference).

residual The difference between the actual value of the dependent variable and the estimated value of the dependent variable in the regression equation.

least-squares method A mathematical technique for ensuring that the regression line will best represent the linear relationship between X and Y.

F-test A procedure used to determine whether there is more variability in the scores of one sample than in the scores of another sample.

analysis of variance summary table A table that presents the results of a regression calculation.