Research Terminologies
Mamoona Iram
DPH, BScN, MScN
Objectives
At the end of this session, the students
will be able to :
Define different terminologies related
to:
Roles on research project
Research settings
The building blocks of a study
Roles involve in Research
Subjects/Study participants
Informants or Key Informants
Researcher, investigator or Scientist
Collaborative Research
Project Director or Principal Investigator
Co-investigators and consultants
Funder or Sponsor
Reviewers & Peer Reviewers
Subject/Study Participants
In a quantitative study, the people who
are being studied are referred to as
subjects or study participants
Informants/Key Informants
In a qualitative study, the individuals
cooperating in the study play an active
rather than a passive role in research,
Thus they are referred to as informants,
or key informants.
Researcher/ Investigator
The person who undertakes the research
is the researcher or investigator
Collaborative research: Research
involving a team of Persons with both
clinical and methodological expertise in
addressing problems of clinical relevance.
Project director/Primary
investigator
In a collaborative research the person
directing the investigation is referred to as
the project director or principal
investigator (PI).
Co-Investigator
CO- Investigator: Two or three
researchers collaborating equally are co-
investigators.
Consultant: When specialized expertise
is needed on a short-term basis (e.g., for
statistical analysis), the Researcher may
approach to experts in that area, they are
known as consultants
Funder /Sponsors
When financial assistance is obtained to
pay for research costs, the organization
providing the money is known as funder
or sponsor.
Reviewers/Peer Reviewers
Expert Persons critique on various
aspects of a study and offer feedback, are
known as Reviewers.
If Persons who Critique Different aspects
of study, are at a similar level of
experience as the researchers, they may
be called peer reviewers.
Research Setting
Site
Setting
Naturalistic Setting
Laboratory Setting
Site
The site is the overall location for the
research—it could be an entire
community, entire setup (e.g FMH)
Setting
Settings are the more specific places
where data collection occurs. (eg Head
Nurses’ offices)
In some cases, the setting and the site are
the same, as when the selected site is a
large hospital, and information is collected
exclusively within that setting.
Naturalistic settings
The original actual setting of the study
participants, where the data is being
collected is called as Naturalistic setting.
Some studies take place in naturalistic
settings (in the field), such as in people’s
homes or offices.
Cont…
In-depth qualitative studies are especially
likely to be done in natural settings
because qualitative researchers are
interested in studying the context of
participants’ experiences.
Laboratory settings
When the data is collected from the participants
in a highly controlled setting, that setting is
called as Laboratory setting
Studies sometimes are conducted in highly
controlled laboratory settings that may or
may not have elaborate scientific equipment
installed. Both human and nonhuman research
can occur in laboratory settings.
Theory
An integrated set of defined concepts,
explain, predicts, and/or control that
phenomenon.
Theories are abstract
Phenomenon
Any fact or thing, or event, which can be
observed, rather than simply guessed at or
intuited
It is most often used to describe events in the
natural world which can be observed.
Eg. The motion of the planets, the behavior of
animals, changes in weather etc
Concept
A concept is an idea or mental plan, which
represents items (events, ideas) that have
common attributes.
We cluster items with such commonalities into a
group or class and give that group a name. For
instance, we might find that the name that we
have given to responses such as fear, hate,
anger, and love is emotion.
Cont…
A phenomenon is a thing that has definite,
individual existence in reality or in the
mind. Anything real in itself.
A concept is a generalized idea, based on
knowledge of common properties of
instances in the collection
Like a concept, a construct refers to an
abstraction or mental representation inferred
from situations or behaviors.
distinguish concepts from constructs by noting
that constructs are abstractions that are
deliberately and systematically invented (or
constructed) by researchers for a specific
purpose. For example, self-care in Orem’s model
of health maintenance is a construct.
Construct
Constructs are abstractions that are
deliberately and systematically invented
(or constructed) by researchers for a
specific purpose
Abstract
Abstract terms refer to objects or events
that are not available to the senses
E.g. love, success, freedom, good, moral
Concrete
Concrete terms refer to objects or
events that are available to the senses
These things are directly observable and
we can easily describe and measure them
Eg. Table, Chair, sinus, hot etc
Variables
Something that varies
A variable, is any quality of a person, group,
or situation that varies or takes on different
values.
Weight, anxiety levels, income, and body
temperature are all variables (i.e., each of
these properties varies from one person to
another).
Types of Variables
Continuous
Discrete
Categorical Variables
Continuous Variables
Variables that can assume an infinite number
of values between two points, is called as
continuous variables. e.g. age, weight etc
Discrete Variables
Variables that have a finite number of values
between any two points, representing discrete
quantities e.g. No of children, no of wives etc.
Categorical Variables
A variable which represents an attribute or
characteristic. Eg. (male, female)
When categorical variables take on only
two values, they are known dichotomous
variables e.g. live/dead, HCV +ve/ HCV
–ve, Male/Female etc
Dependent Variables
Variablethat might be affected by
the change in the independent
variable
What is observed
What is measured
Independent Variables
Variablethat is Manipulated by
the scientist
What is tested
What is manipulated
Control variables
A variable that is not changed
Also called constants
Students of different ages were
given the same jigsaw puzzle to
put together. They were timed to
see how long it took to finish the
puzzle.
Heterogeneity
When characteristics are extremely varied
in the group under investigation, the
group is said to be heterogeneous with
respect to that variable.
Homogeneity
When characteristics are similar or have
the least variations in the group under
investigation, the group is said to be
Homogeneous with respect to that
variable.
Conceptual Definition
A conceptual definition presents the
abstract or theoretical meaning of the
concepts being studied.
Example: Concept of Pain
Operational Definition
An operational definition of a concept
specifies the operations that researchers
must perform to collect the required
information.
Example: Different Pain Scales
Data
Data is defined as a set of collected
information about different variables.
Quantitative/Qualitative Data
A Data that can be measured numerically
is called Quantitative data.
A data that cannot assume a numerical
value but can be classified into two or
more nonnumeric categories is called a
qualitative or categorical Data
Reliability/Validity
Reliability: Reliability is the consistency
of your measurement, or the degree to
which an instrument measures the same
way each time it is used under the same
condition with the same subjects
Validity: The degree to which they
accomplish the purpose for which they are
being used
Burns, N. & Grove, S. K. (2007).
Understanding nursing research. (4th ed.).
Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders.
Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2003). Nursing
Research: Principles and Methods. (7th
ed.). Philadelphia: Lippincott
