Research method

A systematic procedure for collecting, analyzing, or interpreting evidence to produce or evaluate knowledge. Its design links a research question to the evidence used to answer it.

Research question: A focused question that a study is designed to answer. It determines what evidence a method must produce.
Data collection: The systematic gathering of observations, records, or measurements for analysis. It is the practical stage where a method obtains its evidence.
Qualitative research: Research that analyzes non-numerical material to understand meanings, experiences, or processes. It uses interpretive evidence when numerical measurement is insufficient.
Observational study: A study that examines exposures or conditions without assigning them by intervention. It contrasts with experiments by observing rather than assigning treatments.
Research design: The overall plan connecting a study’s question, evidence, and analysis. It coordinates the method’s individual procedures into a coherent study.
Experimental design: The planning of interventions, comparisons, and measurements to test causal hypotheses. It shows how some methods isolate effects through planned comparisons.
Quantitative research: Research that uses numerical data and analysis to describe patterns or test claims. It applies measurement and statistical analysis to answer empirical questions.
Randomized controlled trial: An experiment that randomly assigns participants to an intervention or comparison group. It is a specific design for testing intervention effects under controlled assignment.
Sampling (statistics): The process of selecting observations or participants from a population. Sampling determines which cases can contribute evidence.
Randomization: The use of chance to assign units or select observations. Random assignment can reduce systematic differences between comparison groups.

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