| A | B |
|---|
| Discourse Community | Scholars and researchers in a given field who respond to and communicate to each other through published articles in the community's journals and presentations at conventions. |
| Experiment | A researcher working within this methodology creates an environment in which to observe and interpret the results of a research question. |
| Discriminate Validity | The lack of a relationship among measures which theoretically should not be related |
| Discussion | Connects the various aspects of the data analysis-shows the commonalities across groups, uniqueness, inconsistencies, etc., and identifies the limits to the study resulting from the design and data analysis. |
| Distribution | The range of values of a particular variable. |
| Dynamic Systems | Qualitative observational research is not concerned with having straight-forward, right or wrong answers. Change in a study is common because the researcher is not concerned with finding only one answer. |
| Educational Research | Is the formal, systematic application of the scientific method to the study of educational problems. |
| Effectiveness Trial | Focuses on whether a treatment works when used in the real world. Is done after the intervention has been shown to have a positive effect in an efficacy trial. |
| Efficacy | Power or capacity to produce a desired effect. |
| Efficacy Trial | Focuses on whether an intervention can work under ideal circumstances and looks at whether the intervention has any effect at all. |
| Electronic Text | A "paper" or linear text that has been essentially "copied" into an electronic medium |
| Empathic Neutrality | A quality of qualitative researchers who strive to be non-judgmental when compiling findings |
| Empirical Methods | Research procedures and data gathering techniques supported by measurable evidence, not opinion, or speculation. |
| Empirical Research | Research conducted 'in the field', where data are gathered first-hand and/or through observation. Case studies and surveys are examples. |
| Equivalency Reliability | The extent to which two items measure identical concepts at an identical level of difficulty |
| Ethnographic Research | The collection of extensive narrative data on many variables over an extended period of time in a naturalistic setting in order to gain insights not possible using other types of research. Observations are done at particular points of time. Data would include observations, recording, and interpreting what is seen. |
| Ethnomethodology | Studies activities of group members to see how they make sense of their surroundings |
| Evidence Of Effectiveness | According to the NCLB legislation, programs must prove evidence of effectiveness, in other words the programs must show, through student achievement data, that the program improves achievement. |
| Existence Or Frequency | This is a key question in the coding process. The researcher must decide if he/she is going to count a concept only once, for existence, no matter how many times it appears, or if he/she will count it each time it occurs. |
| Discrete Variable | A variable that is measured solely in whole units, e.g., gender and siblings |
