Glossary
Key terms and definitions for puppet interviews and child research methodology.
64 terms
- Acquiescence Bias
- A tendency for respondents to agree with statements regardless of their content.
- Animated Puppet
- A computer-generated character used in digital surveys to interact with children.
- Audio-CASI (Audio Computer-Assisted Self-Interview)
- A method where questions are read aloud by a computer to assist participants who cannot read fluently.
- Back-Translation
- A process where a translated survey is translated back into the original language to check for accuracy.
- Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI)
- A structured interview where two puppets present opposing statements and children choose the one most like them; foundational for child self-report, ages ~3–8.
- Character Consistency
- Keeping puppet voices, timing, and gestures stable across items to avoid unintended cues.
- CHAT-E (Childhood Assessment Tool—Electronic)
- Northwestern's Childhood Assessment Tool—Electronic: a tablet adaptation of the Berkeley Puppet Interview that uses animated characters to present opposing statements to children ages 4–8.
- Child Assent
- A child’s affirmative, age-appropriate agreement to participate; complements parental consent.
- Cognitive Load
- The total amount of mental effort being used in working memory at a given time.
- Construct
- A psychological concept or trait being measured by a survey (e.g., “self-esteem”).
- Construct Validity
- The extent to which a survey truly measures the construct it is intended to measure.
- Content Validity
- The extent to which a survey covers all aspects of the concept being measured.
- Convenience Sampling
- A sampling method where participants are chosen based on ease of access.
- COPPA
- US law that regulates online data collection from children under 13; affects consent and tracking.
- Cross-Cultural Adaptation
- Adjusting a survey so it remains valid across different languages and cultural contexts.
- CSV Export
- A simple file format to download results for analysis in spreadsheets or stats software.
- Cueing/Priming
- Providing subtle hints or context that can influence a participant's response.
- Data Sync
- Securely uploads results from device to the cloud when connectivity is available.
- Developmentally Appropriate Practice
- Teaching and assessment methods matched to the age, experience, and abilities of the child.
- Dichotomous Item
- Two opposite response options (A vs. B). Ideal for ages 4–8 in BPI/CHAT-E formats to reduce complexity.
- Digital Assent
- A process where a participant gives consent or assent electronically, often within an app interface.
- Engagement Cue
- An element in a survey (animation, sound effect) used to recapture attention.
- Ethnographic Observation
- Qualitative research involving observing participants in their natural environment.
- Face Validity
- The extent to which a survey appears to measure what it claims, based on a superficial review.
- Facilitator Neutrality
- Adults present should avoid reactions or cues that nudge a child toward one option.
- FERPA
- US law governing privacy of student education records; relevant to school-based surveys.
- Forced-Choice Format
- A question design requiring the respondent to choose between defined alternatives, with no neutral option.
- Guided Access
- A tablet feature that locks the device to a single app during a session to prevent distraction.
- HIPAA
- US law governing protected health information (PHI); may apply in clinical or school-health settings.
- Inter-Rater Reliability
- The degree to which different raters give consistent estimates of the same phenomenon.
- IRB (Institutional Review Board)
- Institutional board that reviews human-subjects research for ethics and compliance (consent, assent, privacy).
- Item Bank
- A collection of pre-tested survey questions available for use in different studies.
- Item Counterbalancing
- Swapping left/right position or order of paired statements to minimize position effects.
- Likert Scale
- A multi-point agree-disagree scale. For ages 4–8, often replaced by dichotomous BPI-style items for clarity.
- Longitudinal Study
- A research design that collects data from the same participants at multiple time points to track change.
- Measurement Error
- Differences between the actual value and the value obtained from the measurement tool.
- Micro-Break
- A brief pause or animation between items to reset attention without implying correctness.
- Neutral Prompt
- A survey item or statement that is presented without implying a preferred answer.
- Normative Data
- Reference scores from a defined population used to interpret an individual or group’s performance.
- Observer-Reported Outcomes (ObsRO)
- Assessments provided by someone other than the patient, often a parent or caregiver.
- Offline-First
- Sessions run without Wi-Fi; data syncs later when the device reconnects.
- Paired Statements
- Two opposing puppet lines presented together so a child selects the one more like them.
- Parental Consent
- Written permission from a parent/guardian required before a child participates; often paired with child assent.
- Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO)
- Data directly reported by a patient about their own health condition without interpretation by clinicians.
- Pictorial Likert Scale
- A Likert-type response scale that uses pictures or icons instead of text to aid comprehension in young children.
- Pilot Test
- A small-scale trial of your survey to check clarity, timing, logistics, and data quality before full rollout.
- Practice Question
- A simple, low-stakes item used to familiarize children with the survey process.
- Psychometrics
- The field concerned with the design, administration, and interpretation of quantitative tests for measuring knowledge, abilities, attitudes, or personality.
- Random Sampling
- A method where each member of the sampling frame has a known, non-zero chance of selection.
- Reliability
- Consistency of a measure across time, items, or raters; key for child self-report validity claims.
- Response Bias
- A tendency for participants to answer in a certain way regardless of the question's content.
- Response Option
- The answer choices provided for a survey question.
- Sampling Frame
- The list or set of units (schools, classrooms, students) from which a sample is drawn.
- School Climate Survey
- A tool used to assess perceptions of safety, relationships, teaching quality, and the learning environment within a school.
- Session Code
- A short code or QR that loads the right survey for the right student while minimizing PII.
- Social-Emotional Learning (SEL)
- The process through which children acquire skills to understand and manage emotions, set goals, show empathy, and maintain relationships.
- Stimulus Equivalence
- The concept that different forms of a question or prompt are understood to mean the same thing by participants.
- Structured Interview
- An interview that follows a standardized set of questions asked in a fixed order.
- Template Library
- Prebuilt, age-tested item sets (e.g., SEL, school climate) that can be customized for your context.
- Test-Retest Reliability
- The consistency of survey results when administered to the same participants on two occasions.
- Touch Interaction
- Child taps a character or button to answer; ideal for non-readers and simple motor actions.
- Validity
- The extent a survey measures what it intends to measure; supported by content, construct, and face validity evidence.
- Visual Support
- Images or graphics used to help children understand a survey question.
- Voiceover Script
- Recorded audio for each puppet line; keeps delivery clear and consistent for non-readers.