ESP 178 Applied Research Methods
Studying for the Midterm
The midterm will be focused on the application of the concepts we’ve been learning.
You do not have to memorize definitions of concepts. But you should know what the
following terms mean and understand them well enough to show us how they apply to the
examples we give you:
Inductive study
Deductive study
Independent variable
Dependent variable
Conceptual model
Nominal measure
Ordinal measure
Ratio measure
Reliability of measures
Validity of measures
“Gold standard”
External validity
Population
Sampling frame
Stratified sampling
Cluster sampling
Probability sampling
Nonprobability sampling
Causal validity
Association
Time-order criterion
Spurious relationship
Causal mechanism
Intervening or mediating variable
Unit of observation
Unit of analysis
Ecological fallacy
Cross-sectional design
Longitudinal design
Experimental design
Quasi-experimental design
Treatment
Treatment or experimental group
Control or comparison group
Pre-test/post-test or before/after
Randomization
Threats to internal validity
Selection bias
Endogenous change
History effects
Contamination
Treatment misidentification