Glossary

A panel refers to a survey sample in which the same units or respondents are surveyed or interviewed on two or more occasions (waves). See also Panel study.

Source: SAGE Research Methods.

Panel studies follow the same individuals over time. Information is normally collected about the whole household at each wave. See also Wave.

Source: Closer Learning Hub (Panel studies).

Values passed into a script or function that control how it behaves when it runs. For example, a researcher might set a parameter to specify which dataset to load, which variables to include in a model, or how many iterations an analysis should run, allowing the same script to be reused with different inputs without rewriting the code.

The process of analyzing the grammatical and syntactic structure of text to determine how words and phrases relate to one another, enabling machines to understand sentence structure, meaning, and context.

In survey design, a population is an entire collection of observation units, for example all ‘residents in England and Wales in 2020’, about which researchers seek to draw inferences.

Statistics produced using a sample of cases (sample statistics), which are designed to produce an estimate about the characteristics of the population (population parameter).

Source: SAGE Research Methods.

Precision refers to the size of deviations from a survey estimate (i.e. a survey statistic, such as a mean or percentage) that occurs over repeated application of the same probability-based sampling procedures using the same sampling frame and sample size. Standard errors and confidence intervals are two examples of commonly used measures of precision.

Source: SAGE Research Methods.

Primary data is data collected first-hand for a specific research purpose or project.

Source: SAGE Research Methods.

Probabilistic refers to systems, models, or reasoning that use likelihoods and statistical probabilities instead of absolute certainty. It is commonly used to handle uncertainty in AI, engineering, and data analysis.

A sample based on random selection of elements. It should be possible for the sample designer to calculate the probability with which an element in the population is selected for inclusion in the sample.

A set of instructions that allows us to communicate commands to a computer. Using a programming language, we can control a computer’s ‘s behaviour and automate processes.

Prompt engineering is the art and science of structuring, designing, and optimising inputs (prompts) to guide Large Language Models (LLMs) such as GPT, Claude, and Gemini to generate accurate, relevant, and high-quality outputs.

A plain-language description of the logic or steps of a programme, written in a way that is easy for humans to read and understand without following the strict rules of any specific programming language. It is typically written in English but can use any natural language, and is used to plan and communicate the structure of code before writing it formally.

PSPP is an open source statistics package which has a similar design and basic functionality of SPSS. Visit the PSPP website for more information.

An isolated folder with its own specific Python version and packages. It keeps project dependencies separate, avoiding conflicts with global packages. This prevents version clashes, maintains consistent environments, and does not require admin rights to install libraries.