Glossary

Searchable terminology from accessibility, web standards, and related fields.

56 results found in research methodology.

Rehabilitation Engineering (Rehab Engineering)
An engineering discipline focused on quantifying, measuring, and modeling human performance to provide better-fitting assistive technology adaptations. Rehabilitation engineering emerged partly as a r…
Representative Users (Target Users, Intended Users)
Study participants who share the relevant characteristics of the population for whom a technology or solution is being designed. In accessibility research, this means including people with the actual …
Researcher Bias (Investigator Bias)
The influence of a researcher's own perspectives, assumptions, and identity on how they design studies, ask questions, and interpret data. In accessibility research, researcher bias can manifest when …
Sampling Bias (Selection Bias, Participation Bias)
A systematic error in research caused by non-random selection of participants, resulting in a sample that does not accurately represent the target population. In accessibility research, sampling bias …
Scoping Review (Scoping Study)
A scoping review is a type of research synthesis that systematically maps the existing literature on a broad topic to identify key concepts, gaps in evidence, and types of available research. Unlike s…
Single Case Experimental Design (SCED, Single Subject Design, N-of-1 Design)
A research methodology in which individual participants serve as their own control, with repeated measurements taken during baseline and intervention phases to evaluate the effect of a treatment or in…
Situated action (Situated cognition, Situated practice)
A theoretical framework from sociology and HCI holding that human actions and decisions are fundamentally shaped by the specific social, material, and temporal context in which they occur, rather than…
Skin Conductance (SC, Skin Conductance Response, SCR, Skin Conductance Level, SCL)
A measure of the electrical conductance of the skin, which increases with sweat gland activity. Skin conductance is commonly used as an index of emotional arousal or sympathetic nervous system activat…
Social Desirability Bias (Impression Management)
A type of response bias in which research participants answer questions in a way that presents themselves favorably rather than truthfully, either to project a positive self-image or to avoid judgment…
Socio-Technical Aspirations
Individual- or community-driven ambition and desire to own or use a specific technology for personal benefit or societal acceptance or both. This concept, introduced by Sharma et al. (2020) as an exte…
Socio-Technical Grounded Theory (STGT)
Socio-Technical Grounded Theory (STGT) is a qualitative research methodology adapted from classical Grounded Theory for studying technology within its social and organisational context. It extends the…
Spearman correlation (Spearman rank correlation, Spearman's rho)
A non-parametric statistical measure of the strength and direction of the monotonic relationship between two ranked variables, ranging from -1 to +1. In accessibility evaluation research, Spearman cor…
Stakeholder Research (Stakeholder Analysis, Stakeholder Involvement)
A research approach that identifies and engages all parties who have an interest in or are affected by a technology, product, or service. In accessibility research, stakeholder research involves consu…
System Usability Scale (SUS)
A widely used 10-item Likert scale questionnaire developed by John Brooke in 1996 that provides a quick, reliable measure of perceived usability. Scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicat…
Usage analytics (Telemetry, Interaction logging)
The collection and analysis of data about how users interact with a technology system in real-world settings, including session duration, feature usage frequency, settings preferences, and interaction…
Within-Subjects Design (Repeated Measures Design, Crossover Design)
A research methodology in which the same participants are exposed to all conditions or treatments being compared, with each participant serving as their own control. In accessibility research, within-…