Terminologies for Research

Methodology
Business Research Methods
 Terminologies
• Concept • Hypothesis
• Construct • Model
• Proposition • Research problem
• Operational Definition • Theory
• Variable • Paradigm
• Law • Framework
 Concept
• A Concept is a generally accepted collection of meanings or
characteristics associated with certain events, objects,
conditions, situations, and behaviors

• A generalized idea about a class of objects,

attributes, occurrences, or processes that has
been given a name
 Construct
• A construct is a concept
• Construct has the added meaning, however, of
having been deliberately and consciously invented
or adopted for a special scientific purpose
• A construct is an image or idea specifically for a
given research and/or theory-building purpose
 Proposition

• Statements concerned with the relationships

among concepts
 Operational Definition
• An operational definition is one stated in
terms of specific testing criteria or
operations.
• The specifications and procedures must be
so clear that any competent person using
them would classify the objects in the same
way
 Variable

• A variable is a symbol to which numerals or

values are assigned
• The term variable is used by scientists and
researchers as a synonym for construct or
the property being studied
Defining Independent and Dependent Variables

Independent Dependent
Variable Variable
Presumed cause Presumed effect
Stimulus Response
Predicted from... Predicted to...
Antecedent Consequence
Manipulated Measured outcome
 Hypothesis
• A conjectural statement of the relation
between two or more variables

Types of Hypothesis
• Descriptive hypotheses
• Relational hypotheses
 Theory
• A theory is a set of statements that organize
a large body of facts (laws) into a single
explanatory system, in a nutshell a theory is
an explanation for a set of facts
• A theory is a statement or set of statements
about the relationships among variables
 Paradigm
• A paradigm is a perspective way of thinking
about a branch of science that includes all
of assumptions and theories that are
accepted as true by a group of scientists
 Model
• A model is defined here as a representation
of a system which is constructed for the
purpose of studying some aspect of that
system or the system as a whole
 Law
• A law is a statement that certain events are
regularly associated with each other in an
orderly way
• Laws are probabilistic