THE LANGUAGE OF RESEARCH

Characteristics of the Language of Research

Research is searching for truth in a systematic way or in a scientific method. Doing things in this manner means
going into a world of science that deals mostly with facts, principles, theories, generalizations, methods, and the like.
Existing within the bounds of science that is quite different from other subjects because of its inclination to special or
abstract terms, research is likewise pregnant with extraordinary terms because this has a language of its own. It has its
own organized system of language structures that you, as the researcher, use to communicate with your fellow
researchers and with readers eager to know the findings of your research.
Endowed with special knowledge; meaning, ideas that are applicable to a particular purpose, you possess a certain
expertise that only people belonging to your area of specialization find understandable and easy to relate themselves
with. Your expertise or special knowledge in research causes you to use words, phrases, and other language structures
whose meanings and uses are familiar with or common only to those engaged in research. For non-researchers, unless
they purposely read books on research, the language of research appears as a jargon. Jargons are terms considered as
technical because these are commonly used only by people belonging to the same field of specialization. Exclusively used
by specific set of persons, like the engineers, doctors, lawyers, architects, or businessmen, among others, these terms do
not sound familiar or understandable to ordinary persons in society. (Shields & Rangarian 2013; Trochim 2006)
Research-Language Formation
The specialized forms of the language of research are caused by the following factors (Trochim 2006):
1. Multisyllable words
Some terms reflecting the inherent characteristics of research as a scientific method are made up of a number
of syllables such as the following:
• Theoretical – concepts
• Empirical – observable
• Probabilistic – uncertain
• Quantitative – numerical
• Qualitative – opinionated
• Scientific– systematic
• Inquiry – investigation

`2. Types and forms of questions

Research has its own types of questions. It has to ask questions that describe, show relationships, and give reasons
behind the occurrence of something. For instance, for a qualitative research, questions to be asked must elicit
views, emotions, or opinions of people. Quantitative research, on the other hand, asks questions about the exact
number, percentages, or frequency of things. Informative questions rather than yes-or-no questions are the
appropriate questions to ask in research.

3. Span of time covered by the research.

Owing to the length of time—months or years—that takes place in a study, research introduced the terms cross-
sectional and longitudinal studies. Cross-sectional study involves a one-time collection of data in a span of time;
longitudinal study, repeated collection of data for the purpose of finding out changes of patterns over time.

4. Variable relationships
Concerning itself with whether or not a variable has effects on another variable, based on cause-effect
relationships and on a certain pattern that may result in positive or negative relationship, research came out with
the following terms for variables
a. Independent variables – the cause of something
b. Dependent variables – bears the effect of the independent variable
c. Extraneous variable – extra or unexpected variable cropping up outside the research design
d. Confounding variable – unstable variable
5. Formulation of Hypotheses
Forming of hypotheses indicates the staging of a research. It signals the occurrence of a scientific or investigative
way of doing things. Hence, there are these terms: null hypotheses for guessing negative results of the research
and alternative hypotheses for positive results.
6. Data
These are facts, information, or logically derived forms of knowledge that are called qualitative data if they are
verbally and subjectively expressed; quantitative data, if they are numerically and objectively expressed.
7. Unit of Analysis
The subject or object of your research study makes up one major entity and this may either be one of the following:
a. Individual, group, artefact (painting, book, travelogue)
b. Geographical unit (municipality, province, country)
c. Social interaction (husband-wife, teacher-learner, employer-employee)
Operational Definition

Meaning of Operational Definition

Concepts, theories, principles, assumptions, predictions, and other abstracts terms are the catchwords of
research. These are cognitively-coined terms that appear so complex to readers, in general, especially, those with zero
background knowledge about research. A theoretical definition (explanation based on the concepts or knowledge related
to the field of discipline and widely accepted as correct) prevents readers from immediately seeing the relationships or
relevance of things involved in the research. One way of giving a clear meaning of a concept or anything involved in the
research is to define it operationally.

What is an operational definition? Operational definition is making the concept or the thing meaningful by
specifying the way your research should measure such concept. It defines the basic concept through the operation used
or research activity involved to measure the concept. Making the concept measurable indicates that the operational
definition is a component of an empirical process that requires observation for distinguishing the concept from other
ideas, for measuring it with precision, and for knowing its meaning clearly. Defining the term based on its operation or
application in the research gives other researchers the opportunity to evaluate the measurement procedure and to repeat
such procedure in their own research studies. The following examples give you an idea on how to define a term
operationally. (Ravich & Riggon 2012; Trochim 2006).

Guidelines in Giving Operational Definitions

Gleaned from books on research are the following pointers on defining terms operationally:

1. Have a clear understanding of the concept focused on by your study before you begin defining such concept
operationally.

2. Base your operational definition on the concept under study.

3. Express the operational definition in only one sentence.

4. Let the operational definition explain the measurement of variables clearly.

5. Construct an operational definition that other researchers can understand, assess, and repeat in other research
studies.

Examples of Operational Definitions

1. Defining Temperature
 Theoretical/Conceptual Definition: heat flowing between infinite reservoirs
 Operational Definition: define temperature in relation to operations with gas thermometers
2. Defining Electric Current
 Theoretical/Conceptual Definition: force between two parallel conductors
 Operational Definition: mention the device, current balance, to measure electric current
3. Defining Anger
 Theoretical/Conceptual Definition: intangible; not directly measured by observation
 Operational Definition: mention facial expressions, vocabulary, or voice tone to measure anger
4. Defining Virgo
 Theoretical/Conceptual Definition: constellation of stars (cannot tell the process of formation)
 Operational Definition: mention the way of locating Virgo in the sky (repeatable process)