Demystifying research language

Although not a guarantee for good scholarship, knowledge of the ‘nuts and bolts' that make it up can go a long way to ensuring that the tools of research are used properly. If you have the right tools and you know how to employ them, the research process becomes a great deal easier and quicker.

It will benefit all postgraduate researchers to have the appropriate toolkit of language and concepts from the beginning of their research. Indeed it is vital they are able to assemble their toolkit before their research begins. If disabled researchers experience additional barriers to managing research language, then there is even more reason for simplifying the process. Clear, unambiguous explanations or definitions of research terms are essential ‘nuts and bolts'. As Jonathan Grix states: ‘Fear of the unknown, the esoteric and the complex only hinders progress'. 

In the introduction to his book, Jonathan Grix writes:

‘If you command the basic vocabulary of generic research, you are far more likely to choose the correct theories, concepts or methods to use in your work. By grasping the core tools used in research, much of the mystery that can surround it begins to disappear.’

Grix,J. (2001) Demystifying Postgraduate Research, University of Birmingham Press 

It may be that we need to ask ourselves: 

• Assumptions: do we make assumptions that all students will know before they start key terms relating to the research process?
• Understanding: do we check out that students understand those terms?
• Confidence: do we make clear that researchers can ask us with confidence to explain what we mean?
• Key terms: do we make it possible for the researcher to acquire key terms before they embark on planning their research?

Attached to this page is a glossary of generic research terms with plain English definitions. It is by no means a definitive glossary, but it may provide a framework for starting to demystify the language of research for researchers.