GLOSSARY

Manifest Content: "is that which is obvious and conveyed in the spoken information of the interview. It refers to what the person says." Latent Content: "is the less obvious or more hidden information conveyed by hesitations and nonverbal responses, such as avoidance of eye contact, nervous gestures, or restlessness. Latent content indicates what the person means." a\Archival Research is getting a hold of research that other people did. Ecotone
" is a transition area between two biomes but different patches of the landscape, such as forest and grassland.[1] It may be narrow or wide, and it may be local (the zone between a field and forest) or regional (the transition between forest and grassland ecosystems).[2] An ecotone may appear on the ground as a gradual blending of the two communities across a broad area, or it may manifest itself as a sharp boundary line."
http://en.wikipedia.org

Descriptive Study
one in which a phenomenon is described but no attempt is made to analyze the effects of variables on the phenomenon.
thefreedictionary.com

Theoretical Study
one in which the data to be studied are yet to be generated, the events having not yet occurred.
thefreedictionary.com

Third Place
A place other than my home or work where I can go to relax and feel part of my community.

Explanatory Research
Explanatory research is research conducted in order to explain any behaviour in the market. It could be done through using questionnaires, group discussions, interviews, random sampling, etc.
http://wiki.answers.com

Environmental Determinism
Environmental determinism, also known as climatic determinism or geographical determinism, is the view that the physical environment sets limits on human environment.

The fundamental argument of the environmental determinist was that aspects of physical geography, particularly climate, influenced the psychological mind-set of individuals, which in turn defined the behavior and culture of the society that those individuals formed. For example, tropical climates were said to cause laziness, relaxed attitudes and promiscuity, while the frequent variability in the weather of the middle latitudes led to more determined and driven work ethics.
http://www.answers.com

Cognitive Maps
Cognitive mapping is the means through which people process their environment, solve problems and use memory. It was first identified in the late 1940s by University of California-Berkeley professor Edward Tolman, and, as so often happens in the field of psychology, it began with laboratory rats. In his experiments, Tolman challenged each rat with a maze that offered food at the end. He noticed that each time the rats passed through the myriad small paths and blind alleys, they made fewer mistakes. Eventually, they were all able to move swiftly to the goal with no false starts.

This told Tolman that the rats had internalized the makeup of the maze in their brains, which Tolman called "the central office." Similarly, human infants come to realize through experience that crying will bring food and/or attention. A child learns not to touch a hot stove. A person who has been blinded can still find his way around his house.

Thus, cognitive mapping is a form of memory, but it is also more than that. Retaining the sequence of streets in the directions to your house is memory; seeing these streets in your "mind's eye" as you speak is cognitive mapping. One working definition of cognitive mapping comes from Downs & Stea in their textbook Cognitive Mapping and Spatial Behavior: "A process composed of a series of psychological transformations by which an individual acquires, codes, stores, recalls, and decodes information about the relative locations and attributes of phenomena in their everyday spatial environment."
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-cognitive-mapping.htm

Cognitive Maps
"are mental representations of places."
"A Prectical Guide to Behavior Research, pg 72."

Trace Measures
are the physical remains of interaction. When investigating a crime, police operate under the assumption that "every contact leaves a trace" (1). At the crime scene and elsewhere, police seek traces of the criminal -- fingerprints, footprints, fiber from clothing, hair, cigarette butts, blood type, DNA, and whatever else might help solve the crime. Similarly, researchers use physical traces as indicators of behavior. There are two general types of trace measures: Accretion - a build-up of physical traces, and Erosion - the wearing away of material.
http://psychology.ucdavis.edu/SommerB/sommerdemo/traces/intro.htm

Descriptive Statistics
A set of brief descriptive coefficients that summarizes a given data set, which can either be a representation of the entire population or a sample. The measures used to describe the data set are measures of central tendency and measures of variability or dispersion.

A set of brief descriptive coefficients that summarizes a given data set, which can either be a representation of the entire population or a sample. The measures used to describe the data set are measures of central tendency and measures of variability or dispersion.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/descriptive_statistics.asp#ixzz1pZ1hcdQa

Observational Study
A research method designed to draw inferences about the possible effect of exposure on an established outcome (e.g. a disease, a therapy) without the investigator's intervention. Examples: case-control study, cohort study, cross-sectional study.
thefreedictionary.com

Inductive
Inductive reasoning, also known as induction or inductive logic, is a kind of reasoning that constructs or evaluates propositions that are abstractions of observations of individual instances of members of the same class. It is commonly construed as a form of reasoning that makes generalizations based on individual instances. In this sense it is often contrasted with deductive reasoning.

However, philosophically the definition is much more nuanced than simple progression from particular / individual instances to wider generalizations. Rather, the premises of an inductive logical argument indicate some degree of support (inductive probability) for the conclusion but do not entail it; that is, they suggest truth but do not ensure it. In this manner, there is the possibility of moving from generalizations to individual instances.

This is an example of inductive reasoning:

90% of humans are right-handed.
Joe is a human.

Therefore, the probability that Joe is right-handed is 90%.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_reasonin

Deductive
Deductive reasoning, also called deductive logic, is reasoning which constructs or evaluates deductive arguments. Deductive arguments are attempts to show that a conclusion necessarily follows from a set of premises or hypotheses. A deductive argument is valid if the conclusion does follow necessarily from the premises, i.e., the conclusion must be true provided that the premises are true. A deductive argument is sound if it is valid and its premises are true. Deductive arguments are valid or invalid, sound or unsound. Deductive reasoning is a method of gaining knowledge. An example of a deductive argument:

All men are mortal
Socrates is a man
Therefore, Socrates is mortal

The first premise states that all objects classified as "men" have the attribute "mortal". The second premise states that "Socrates" is classified as a man – a member of the set "men". The conclusion states that "Socrates" must be mortal because he inherits this attribute from his classification as a man.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deductive_reasoning

Positivism
Positivism is a view of scientific methods and a philosophical approach, theory, or system based on the view that, in the social as well as natural sciences, sensory experiences and their logical and mathematical treatment are together the exclusive source of all worthwhile information. Introspective and intuitional attempts to gain knowledge are rejected. Though the positivist approach has been a recurrent theme in the history of western thought from the Ancient Greeks to the present day, the concept was developed in the early 19th century by the philosopher and founding sociologist, Auguste Comte.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Positivism

Phenomenology
The term phenomenology in science is used to describe a body of knowledge that relates empirical observations of phenomena to each other, in a way that is consistent with fundamental theory, but is not directly derived from theory. For example, we find the following definition in the Concise Dictionary of Physics:

Phenomenological Theory. A theory that expresses mathematically the results of observed phenomena without paying detailed attention to their fundamental significance.

The name is derived from phenomenon (from Greek φαινόμενoν, pl. φαινόμενα - phenomena and -λογία - -logia, translated as "study of" or "research"), which is any occurrence that is observable.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phenomenology_%28science%29

Grounded Theory
Grounded theory (GT) is a systematic methodology in the social sciences involving the generation of theory from data. It is mainly used in qualitative research, but is also applicable to quantitative data.

Grounded theory is a research method, which operates almost in a reverse fashion from traditional research and at first sight may appear to be in contradiction to the scientific method. Rather than beginning with a hypothesis, the first step is data collection, through a variety of methods. From the data collected, the key points are marked with a series of codes, which are extracted from the text. The codes are grouped into similar concepts in order to make them more workable. From these concepts, categories are formed, which are the basis for the creation of a theory, or a reverse engineered hypothesis. This contradicts the traditional model of research, where the researcher chooses a theoretical framework, and only then applies this model to the phenomenon to be studied.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grounded_theory

Space
Space is the boundless, three-dimensional extent in which objects and events occur and have relative position and direction.[1] Physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions, although modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless four-dimensional continuum known as spacetime. In mathematics one examines "spaces" with different numbers of dimensions and with different underlying structures. The concept of space is considered to be of fundamental importance to an understanding of the physical universe. However, disagreement continues between philosophers over whether it is itself an entity, a relationship between entities, or part of a conceptual framework.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space

Place
a. An area with definite or indefinite boundaries; a portion of space.
b. Room or space, especially adequate space: There is place for everyone at the back
of the room.
c. The particular portion of space occupied by or allocated to a person or thing.
d. A building or an area set aside for a specified purpose: a place of worship.
e. A dwelling; a house: bought a place on the lake.
f. A business establishment or office.
g. A locality, such as a town or city: visited many places.
h. Abbr. Pl. A public square or street with houses in a town.
i. A space in which one person, such as a passenger or spectator, can sit or stand.
j. A setting for one person at a table.
k. A position regarded as belonging to someone or something else; stead: She was
chosen in his place.
l. A particular point that one has reached, as in a book: I have lost my place.
m. A particular spot, as on the body: the place that hurts.
n. The proper or designated role or function: the place of the media in a free
society.
o. The proper or customary position or order: These books are out of place.
p. A suitable setting or occasion: not the place to argue.
q. The appropriate right or duty: not her place to criticize.
r. Social station: He overstepped his place.
s. A particular situation or circumstance: Put yourself in my place.
t. High rank or status.
u. A job, post, or position: found a place in the company.
v. Relative position in a series; standing.
w. Games Second position for betting purposes, as in a horserace.
x. The specified stage in a list of points to be made, as in an argument: in the
first place.
z. Mathematics A position in a numeral or series.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/place

Monger
1. A dealer in a specific commodity. Often used in combination: an ironmonger.
2. A person promoting something undesirable or discreditable. Often used in
combination: a scandalmonger; a warmonger.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/mongers

Piano Effect
Its a term used on environmental behavior studies that indicate the human behavior of finding furniture, corners, columns, or niches within the edge zone that will provide support for staying and help to define the place as a specially well-defined place rather than just a place along the wall.
"The City at Eye Level" Chapter 4, page 139. Quantification "means tabulating theresults in numerical from." A Practical Guide to Behavior Research