DEFINING

TERMS

Prepared by:

DR. REYNALDO A. NAMA

Subject Specialist
 It is important to include
definition of terms in your research
in order to understand the key
terms being used in the study.
These terms should be clearly defined
according to how they are used in the study
for easy understanding of the problem and
avoid ambiguous meaning to terms which
can be otherwise interpreted in
different ways. This is what we
refer to as operational
definition.
 There are cases when you have
to define terms based on actual
concepts, that is, based on what has
been accepted as the definition as
used by experts in the area.
This is what we refer to as the
conceptual definition. This is also
accepted provided you acknowledge
the author from whom you
borrowed the definition, then
proceed to define the terms
operationally.
 Make sure to define common
terms that may have special
meaning or used differently. To
identify terms to be defined, start
from the title.
All terms in the title that may be
given a double meaning or a
meaning different from how
you intended it to be used in
your study should be
operationally defined.
 From the title, proceed to the
general statement and the sub
questions and look for the variables.
Variables which are used with a
different meaning form the
traditional or accepted meanings
should be defined while those
variables with meanings similar to
accepted or traditional definitions
may no longer be included
in the definition of terms.
SPECIAL THANKS
TO
DR. REYNALDO A. NAMA

for lending this learning

material