Evidence-Based Practice and Research Methodology Vocabulary

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering research ethics, integrity, study design, validity, statistical appraisal, and evidence-based practice concepts.

Fabrication

The practice of making up research data or results.

Falsification

The manipulation of research processes or data to misrepresent findings.

Plagiarism

The act of using someone else's work or ideas without proper creditation.

Conflict of Interest (COI)

A situation where an individual's personal or financial interests could potentially influence their professional actions or decisions.

p-hacking

The practice of manipulating data or statistical analyses until statistically significant results ($p < 0.05$) are obtained.

HARKing

Hypothesizing After Results are Known; generating hypotheses after study results are known and presenting them as if formulated prior to data collection.

Spin

The deliberate overemphasis of positive trends or distortion of findings in scientific publications to misrepresent inconclusive or non-significant results.

Autonomy

Self-determination; the ethical principle recognizing the capacity of individuals to make decisions affecting their lives and to act on those decisions.

Beneficence

The ethical obligation to attend to the well-being of research participants by maximizing potential benefits and minimizing possible risks or harms.

Justice

The ethical principle requiring fairness in research, specifically the equitable distribution of the benefits and burdens among subject populations.

Institutional Review Board (IRB)

An administrative committee that reviews research protocols to protect the rights and welfare of human subjects and ensure compliance with ethical standards.

Practice Effects

Performance changes that occur in a repeated measures study because participants become familiar with the task or testing procedure.

Carryover Effects

A threat to validity in repeated measures designs where the lingering effects of one intervention persist and influence participant performance during a subsequent condition.

Order Effects

The biasing effect of test sequence in repeated measures studies caused by learning, fatigue, or sequence changes when all participants receive treatments in the same sequence.

Quantitative Research

Research focused on the measurement of outcomes using numerical data under standardized conditions to enable statistical analysis.

Qualitative Research

Research focused on a deep understanding of a phenomenon through narrative descriptions, open-ended questions, interviews, and observations.

Basic Research

Empirical research typically conducted in a laboratory setting ('bench' research) to obtain data for developing, refining, or testing theories.

Applied Research

Research directed toward solving pressing practical problems with functional applications under real-world clinical conditions.

Translational Research

The bidirectional process of transferring scientific findings from 'bench to bedside' and back from 'bedside to bench' to develop clinical guidelines and therapies.

Descriptive Research

Research that documents the characteristics of a group of individuals on a set of specified variables.

Exploratory Research

Observational research designed to examine a phenomenon of interest and explore how it relates to other factors within populations (e.g., cohort or case-control studies).

Explanatory Research

Experimental research that compares two or more conditions or interventions to establish cause-and-effect relationships.

Pretest-Posttest Control Group Design

An experimental design evaluating intervention effects by taking baseline (pretest) and post-intervention (posttest) measures across two or more randomized groups.

Posttest-Only Control Group Design

An experimental design where participants are randomly assigned to groups and evaluated only after the intervention is administered.

Factorial Design

An experimental design evaluating the main and interaction effects of two or more independent variables across unique combination groups.

Repeated Measures Design

An experimental study design where a single group of participants is exposed to all experimental conditions, with each subject acting as their own control.

Mixed Design

A study design combining at least one between-subjects independent factor (e.g., intervention group) and at least one within-subjects repeated factor (e.g., time points).

Internal Validity

The degree to which a study accurately demonstrates a causal relationship between independent and dependent variables without confounding factors.

External Validity

The extent to which study findings can be generalized to other populations, clinical settings, or real-world timeframes.

p-value

The probability that observed experimental results occurred by chance, where values less than $0.05$ ($p < 0.05$) are typically considered statistically significant.

Confidence Interval (CI)

A calculated range within which the true effect size is expected to lie with a specified level of confidence (typically $95\%$).

Effect Size

A quantitative measure of the magnitude of a difference between groups or the strength of a relationship between variables (e.g., Cohen's d).

Selection Bias

Bias introduced when study sample selection produces a non-representative group, compromising generalizability to the target clinical population.

Measurement Bias

Systematic error introduced by inaccurate measurement tools or inconsistent data collection procedures.

Reporting Bias

Selective reporting of study outcomes, such as suppressing non-significant or null findings.

Hierarchy of Evidence

A systematic grading framework ranking research designs based on their inherent quality and control of bias, ranging from background/expert opinion at the base to systematic reviews at the top.

International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) Model

A framework depicting human functioning as a dynamic interaction between health conditions, body functions/structures, activities, participation, and contextual (environmental/personal) factors.