The Language

of Research
CHARACTERITICS OF LANGUAGE
RESEARCH
• Research is searching for truth in a systematic
way or in scientific method.
• Doing things in this manner means going into a
world of science
• It has its own organized system of language
structures in order to communicate with your
fellow researchers and with readers eager to
know the findings of your research.
 CHARACTERITICS OF LANGUAGE
RESEARCH
● Endowed with special knowledge; meaning, ideas that
are applicable to a particular purpose, you posses a
certain expertise that only people belonging to your
area of specialization find understandable and easy to
relate themselves with.
● 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 by people belonging to the
same field of specialization.
 RESEARCH
LANGUAGE
1.FORMATION
Multisyllable
words
• Theoretical - concepts
• Emperical - observable
• Probabilistic - uncertain
• Quantitative - numerical
• Qualitative - opinionated
• Scientific - systematic
• Inquiry - investigation • Informative questions rather than
2. Types and Forms
of Questions
• For a qualitative research,
questions to be asked must be
elicit views, emotions, or
opinions of people.
• Quantitative research, on the
other hand, asks questions about
the exact number, percentages, or
frequency of things.
yes or no questions are
appropriate questions to ask in
research.
 RESEARCH
4. Variable
LANGUAGE Relationships
3. SpanFORMATION
of time covered by
the resarch a) Independent variables- the cause
of something.
• Cross-sectional study involves b) Dependent variables- bears the
one-time collection of data in a effect of the independent
span of time. variable.
• Longitudinal study repeated c) Extraneous variable-extra or
collection of data for the purpose unexpected variable cropping up
of finding out changes of patterns outside the research design.
over time. d) Confounding variable- unstable
variable.
 RESEARCH
LANGUAGE 6. Data
5. Formulation
FORMATION of
Hypothesis • Qualitative data are verbally and
subjectively expressed facts,
• Forming hypothesis indicates the information, or logically derived
staging of the research. forms of knowledge.
• There are these terms: null • Quantitative data are numerically
hypotheses for guessing negative and objectively expressed.
results of the research and
alternative hypotheses for
positive results.
 RESEARCH
LANGUAGE
FORMATION
7. Unit of Analysis

a. Individual, group,
artifact(paintings, books,
travelogue).
b. Geographical unit( municipality,
province, country)
c. Social interaction(husband-wife,
teacher-learner, employer-
employee)
 Operational Definition

● One way of giving a clear meaning of a concept or

anything involved in the research is to define it
operationally.
● Operational definition is making the concept or the thing
meaningful by specifying the way of your research
should be measure such concept.
 Operational Definition

● Making the concept measurable indicates that the operational

definition is 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.
Guidelines in Giving Operational Definitions

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. Construction an operational definition that other researchers can
understand, access, 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.
Examples of Operational Definitions
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 the Virgo in the sky.
(repeatable process)