5. Literature Review
Secondary/library research conducted to
situate current study
Important questions:
Can it be researched?
Should it be researched?
Is there any interest in this?
6. Independent & Dependent Variables
situation + independent variable = dependent
variable
SO...
adults over 25 + drink green tea = better
performance on memory test
7. Intervening Variables
situation + independent variable + intervening
variable = dependent variable
adults over 25 + drink green tea + steeped tea
for 15 minutes = better performance on
memory test
8. Moderating Variables
situation + independent variable + intervening
variable = dependent variable
[+moderating variables]
adults over 25 + drink green tea + steeped tea
for 15 minutes = better performance on
memory test
[age x ounces consumed daily]
9. Control Variables
situation + independent variable = dependent
variable
adults over 25 + drink green tea = better
performance on memory test
situation + control variable = dependent
variable
adults over 25 + drink no green tea = no
change in performance on memory test
10. Confounding Variable
situation + independent variable [+
confounding variable] = dependent variable
adults over 25 + drink green tea [+ daily
crossword] = better performance on memory
test
12. Research Questions
central question of project
what or how are generally qualitative
questions
Quintessential ethnography question:
What is happening here?
nondirectional (no cause, impact, influence,
etc.)
14. Sampling Terms
cross-sectional (146)
longitudinal (146)
population (148)
sampling
single-stage or cluster sampling (148)
random sample
convenience sample (148)
stratification (148)
random table list & sample size formula (149)
15. Validity (Experimental)
Does the instrument measure what you want
it to measure? [Think SATs: are they apt
indicators of a student's potential for
college?]
threats to validity (162-165)
16. Reliability (Experimental)
Consistency of scores internally (on the same
instrument), over time, and in the
administration and scoring
Key for Writing Studies: interrater reliability:
will different readers score a piece of writing
the same over time?
17. Experiments
True experiment (uses random sampling) vs.
Quasi experiment (does not use random
sampling) (155)
pre-experiment (no control group) (158)
18. Backyard Research
Studying the researcher's own organization,
friends, work, family, etc. (177)
In Writing Studies, this is a researcher studying
his/her own classroom (teacher research) or
own institution (happens a lot in dissertations
and theses)
19. Methods for qualitative research
observations
interviews
documents
audio/visual artifacts
(182)