Glossary
Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.
229 results found in Research Methods.
- Bias Benchmarking Questionnaire (BBQ)
- A standardized dataset used in AI fairness research to evaluate social biases in language models. The BBQ consists of carefully crafted context-question pairs designed to test whether models exhibit s…
- Bidirectional Learning
- A principle in community-based and participatory design research in which knowledge flows in both directions between researchers/designers and community members, rather than researchers extracting dat…
- Biomechanics (Human Biomechanics, Movement Science)
- The study of the mechanical principles governing the movement and structure of living organisms, particularly the human body. In accessibility and rehabilitation, biomechanics is applied to understand…
- Body Sheet (Body Map, Body Mapping)
- A body sheet is an outline drawing of the human body (typically front, back, and side views) used as a canvas onto which participants map bodily sensations, emotions, or symptoms. Originating in art t…
- Bonferroni Correction (Bonferroni Adjustment)
- The Bonferroni correction is a statistical adjustment that controls the family-wise error rate when multiple hypothesis tests are performed on the same data. It divides the target significance thresho…
- Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire (CAT-Q)
- A 25-item self-report questionnaire developed by Hull, Mandy, Lai, Baron-Cohen and colleagues (2019) for adults to self-assess autistic masking (camouflaging) behaviours. Items are rated on a 7-point …
- Case Study (Case Study Research)
- A research method involving an in-depth investigation of a single individual, group, event, or situation in its real-world context. Case studies combine multiple data sources such as observations, int…
- Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL, K-CBCL)
- A standardised parent-report assessment tool used to evaluate behavioural and emotional problems in children aged 6-18. It measures internalising problems (anxiety, withdrawal, somatic complaints) and…
- Citizen Science (Community Science, Participatory Science)
- Citizen science is a research approach that engages non-expert members of the public in collecting, processing, or analyzing scientific data, often through purpose-built interactive tools and platform…
- Clinical Reasoning (CR)
- The cognitive and reflective process by which healthcare clinicians — particularly physical and occupational therapists — individualize care under patient and contextual uncertainty. Clinical reasonin…
- Close Reading
- A qualitative analytic method in which researchers slowly and attentively examine a text, image, or artifact, documenting observable features and interpretive responses in detail. In accessibility res…
- Clustering Algorithm (Cluster Analysis, Unsupervised Clustering, K-means, PAM, CLARA)
- A clustering algorithm is an unsupervised machine-learning technique that groups similar data points together based on a distance or similarity measure, without needing pre-labelled training data. Com…
- Co-Making (Co-Fabrication, Collaborative Making)
- Co-making is a participatory practice in which people with disabilities work directly with collaborators — researchers, AI assistants, peers, or family members — to build physical assistive technology…
- Co-design (Co-creation, Cooperative design)
- A design methodology that actively involves end users, stakeholders, and communities as equal partners throughout the design process, going beyond consultation to shared decision-making and creative c…
- Codebook (Research) (Coding Manual, Qualitative Codebook)
- A codebook is a structured set of codes, definitions, and application rules used to systematically analyse qualitative data (interview transcripts, observation notes, documents) or to extract data fro…
- Cognitive Assessment (Neuropsychological assessment, Cognitive testing)
- Structured evaluation of cognitive abilities — attention, memory, executive function, language, visuospatial processing, and more — using standardized tasks, questionnaires, or interactive assessments…
- Communication Privacy Management Theory (CPM, CPM Theory)
- A communication theory developed by Sandra Petronio that treats private information as something people own and collectively manage through negotiated rules about boundaries, co-ownership, and turbule…
- Confederate (Research Confederate, Study Confederate)
- A person who plays a scripted role in a research study while appearing to participants as a naive participant, bystander, or user. Confederates allow researchers to observe how true participants behav…
- Confusion Matrix (Error Matrix)
- A table used to characterize the accuracy of an input system by showing the probability that an intended signal will be correctly recognized versus misinterpreted as a different signal. In assistive t…
- Cooperative Evaluation (Cooperative Usability Evaluation, Modified Think-Aloud)
- A usability evaluation method in which the researcher and participant work together as collaborators rather than following a strict observer-subject protocol. Unlike standard controlled experiments, c…