Occult means hiddden, but is a term widely used to refer to magical practices ('the occult') which fall outside normal natural effects.
Tooltip Categories: Site glossary
Main glossary
hermeneutics
an analyical process for interpreting texts. A key idea is that words and phrases are not understood in isolation, but in the context of the wider text or corpus
handling editor
A journal will often have a team of editors, and the lead editor will assign submissions to the editors. The editor assigned to 'handle' a specific manuscript is sometimes known as the handling editor.
editorial screening
The first stage in the process of determining whether work is suitable for publication in a research journal: an assigned editor checks the submission is complete, on topic for the journal, and has a prima facie appearance of offering work of substance ('face validity' as a scholarly contribution). Submissions passing this stage will be sent for peer review.
conceptual analysis
Conceptual analysis is a technique for breaking down concepts into more fundamental ideas. Conceptual analysis is important in planning and sequencing teaching to identify prerequisite knowledge when introducing new content.
Monty Python
Monty Python was not a real person*.
Monty Python's Flying Circus. Python was a group of comedians who wrote and performed a comedy sketch show for the BBC (and later films and stage shows). Their work was considered very original at the time – it often had philosophical underpinning, lampooned class distinctions and norms, and broke with the usual conventions of the medium (such as having a false ending to an episode that mimicked the transition to the next programme, or stopping a sketch and transitioning to the next without the expected niceties).
* Part of the reason given for choosing the name was that there was no such person as Monty Python (along with: it had nothing to do with flying, and it was not a circus).
data analysis
a stage in a research project where data collected is processed in order to reach results. Data analysis usually involves some form of coding, but the precise process varies according to the research approach
axiology
Axiology concerns values, which are central to research ethics.
uncertainty principle
Heisenberg's uncertainty principle refers to what is believed to be a fundamental limit to the precision allowed in certain measurements. For example, the more precisely the position of an electron is determined the greater the uncertainty in a measurement of its momentum (and vice versa). This is sometimes explained in terms of how detection of the electron will require interaction with a photon – an interaction which will modify the state of the electron. (Although this is so, the uncertainly is thought to be fundamental feature of nature – not just something revealed in making measurements.)
Although the effect is only significant in measures at a very fine scale, the idea is often transferred to notions of social research along the lines that the any kind of measurement will change what is being measured.
anonymity
Anonymity refers to identify being delibertely withheld. It is common practice in much research to offer / assure anonymity to study participants, and this is considered an ethical precaution. (By contrast, research authorship is normally expected to be explicit.)
Read about anonymity in research studies
V.L.E.
V.L.E. sands for virtual learning environment. A V.L.E. is a web-based tool for use on a course or programme of study. Typically it comprises of a means to share information and access course materials, and offers a range of tools such as user blogs, groups meeting spaces, shared glossaries, facilities to submit assignments…
empiricism
empiricism is the doctrine where ideas are tested against experience (cf. rationalism). Science is considered 'empirical' as theories are developoed through and tested by empirical investigations.