Research Process Key Terms

The main purpose or goal of the research — what you want to find out.

• Hypothesis
• Aim
• Sample
• Secondary Data

A clear guess or prediction about what you think will happen in your research.

• Hypothesis
• Aim
• Protection from Harm
• Informed Consent

How truthful and accurate the research is — does it really measure what it says it will?

• Validity
• Access
• Anonymity
• Snowball Sampling

How consistent the results are — if the study was repeated, would it get the same results?

• Representative Sample
• Access
• Reliability
• Anonymity

Whether the results can be applied to the whole population, not just the sample.

• Snowball Sampling
• Systematic Sampling
• Qualitative Data
• Generalisability

When personal opinions or beliefs affect the research and make the results less accurate.

• Stratified Sampling
• Sampling Frame
• Practical Problems
• Bias

A small test run of the research to see if the method works before doing the full study.

• Population
• Pilot Study
• Aim
• Sampling Frame

When other experts check your research to make sure it’s good quality and accurate.

• Opportunity Sampling
• Peer Review
• Deception
• Ethics

Real-life issues like not enough time, money, skills, or access that can affect your research.

• Random Sampling
• Aim
• Practical Problems
• Protection from Harm

Whether you can actually reach and contact the people you want to study.

• Sampling Frame
• Hypothesis
• Access
• Systematic Sampling