Ninth Edition CoverGraziano & Raulin
Research Methods (9th edition)

Glossary Items Starting with "T"

table
Organizational device in which information is summarized and organized.

table of random numbers
A table containing a long list of randomly generated numbers. Such tables are used for random selection and assignment of participants. 

target population
Population to which we hope to generalize the findings of a research study. The researcher rarely has access to more than a portion of the target population.

taxometric search procedures
A set of mathematical procedures that seeks to identify taxonic categories. If the sample includes individuals from more than one taxon, predictable mathematical relationships should exist between traits, and these mathematical relationships should be different from those expected if there are no underlying taxonic categories. 

taxon
A subgroup that is different in kind and not just degree from other subgroups. For example, males and females represent different taxa (plural of taxon) because they are genetically different from each other. 

technology
Physical instruments or tools used by researchers. Technology does not define science; it merely provides tools for scientists.

tenacity
Way of knowing based on accepting an idea as true because it has been accepted as true for a long time.

testing
Potential confounding variable in research that represents any change in a participant's score on a dependent measure due to the participant having been tested previously.

test-retest reliability
Index of the consistency in scores over time. Test-retest reliability is computed by calculating the Pearson product-moment correlation between scores from two testings separated by some specified time interval.

theology
The philosophical tenets and/or study of religion.

theoretical concept
Abstraction (thought or idea) that defines the relationship between two or more variables.

theory
The collection of ideas about how and why variables are related to one another. It is usually built on empirical observations and is validated by making predictions deduced from the theory, which are then empirically tested.

time-series design
See interrupted time-series design.

title page
The first page of a research report manuscript that lists the authors and their affiliations, the title of the paper, and a running head (a brief title which will appear at the top of each page in the published paper).

treatment
See manipulation.

trimodal
A distribution that has three modes.

true experiment
See experiment.

true zero
Characteristic of a measurement scale in which zero represents a zero amount of the concept being measured.

t-test
Statistical procedure designed to test for mean differences between two groups of participants.

t-test for independent groups
Statistical procedure designed to test for mean differences between two groups of participants in which all participants in the study appear in one and only one group.

two-group, posttest-only design
A design in which two groups of participants are compared after some manipulation of the independent variable.

two-way ANOVA
Statistical procedure for the analysis of a factorial design with two independent variables.

Type I error
Probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is true.

Type II error
Probability of not rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is false.