Component 1 Researching a Problem - Key Terms

Term

Definition

Advertise

To present or describe a product, service, or event in a public medium so as to promote sales.

Aesthetic

1. Concerned with beauty or the appreciation of beauty. 2. Of pleasing appearance.

American Psychological Association (APA)

A scientific organization which has set one standard format for written technical reports.

Articulate

Articulate: To clearly express an idea or feeling.

Association

A professional body or professional organization, also known as a professional association or professional society, is an organization, usually non-profit, that exists to further a particular profession, to protect both the public interest and the interests of professionals.

Assumptions

Beliefs about what is true, usually describing the context of a project.

Audience Analysis

Audience Analysis: The understanding of the consumer group for which the design is targeted. This would include the audiences, demographics, physical location, amount of time available to view the design, and interest in the subject matter.

Available Market

Prospects who are willing and capable buyers (have sufficient resources) and who have access to a particular market or service.

Bias

Inclination or prejudice in favor of a particular person, thing, or viewpoint.

Bibliography

Bibliography:  A list of all sources referenced during research.  The bibliography format is specified (See APA or MLA) and is usually found at the end of a written document.

Bioengineering

Engineering applied to biological and medical systems, such as biomechanics, biomaterials, and biosensors. Bioengineering also includes biomedical engineering as in the development of aids or replacements for defective or missing body organs.

Biotechnology

Any technique that uses living organisms, or parts of organisms, to make or modify products, improve plants or animals, or to develop microorganisms for specific uses.

Business Plan

A formal statement that summarizes the goals, strategies, and actions that a company anticipates taking to ensure survival and growth of the business.

Capital

One of the basic resources used in a technological system. Capital or money is the accumulated finances and goods devoted to the production of other goods.

Chemical Technology

Any technological process that modifies, alters, or produces chemical substances, elements, or compounds.

Competition

1. Open market rivalry in which every seller tries to get what other sellers are seeking at the same time – sales, profit, and market share – by offering the best practicable combination of price, quality, and service. 2. Contests used to show or expose work to different forms of evaluation and comparisons to alternate solutions.

Concise

A statement which is brief, factual, accurate, and which lacks superfluous wording and information.

Consumer

One who uses commodities.

Culture

The beliefs, traditions, habits, and values controlling the behavior of the majority of the people in a social-ethnic group. These include methods for addressing problems of survival and existence as a continuing group.

Demographics

The statistical data of a population, especially those showing average age, income, education, and other related topics.

Descriptive Abstract

A written summary that provides an overview of the purpose and contents of a report but that offers no major facts.

Design Proposal

A written plan of action for a solution to a proposed problem.

Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

EPA is the acronym for the Environmental Protection Agency.

Fact

A statement or piece of information that is true or a real occurrence.

Focus Group

Small number of people (typically 8) brought together with a moderator to focus on a specific product or topic. Aimed at a discussion instead of on individual responses to formal questions, the process produces qualitative data (preferences and beliefs) that may or may not be representative of the general population.

Forecast

A statement about future trends, usually as a probability, made by examining and analyzing available information. A forecast is also a prediction about how something will develop, usually as a result of study and analysis of available pertinent data.

Inter Library Loan

The process of accessing material from a library other than your home library. Libraries mutually make their collections available to patrons of other libraries, and this system of requesting and obtaining materials is known as the Inter Library Loan.

Intermodalism

The use of more than one form of transportation.

International Standard Book Number (ISBN)

A unique numeric identifier code assigned to any published book. 

Internet

The worldwide, publicly accessible network of interconnected computer networks that transmit data by packet switching using the standard Internet Protocol (IP). It is a "network of networks."

Interview

1. A formal meeting, in person, with the specific purpose of obtaining information. The interviewer asks the questions, the interviewee answers them. 2. A conversation in which facts or opinions are sought.

Justifiable

Capable of being shown as reasonable or merited according to accepted standards.

Justify

To give a good explanation or reason for something.

Market

1. A subset of the population considered to be interested in the buying of goods or services. 2. A place where goods are offered for sale.

Market Research

The activity of gathering information whereby a specific market is identified and its size and other characteristics are measured.

Market Share

Percentage of total sales volume in a market captured by a brand, product, or firm.

Marketing

The act or process of offering goods or services for sale.

Media

Various formats that are used for presenting information, such as television, radio, and computers.

Media Center

A media center integrates all forms of media, entertainment, and communication functions, such as TV-reception, broadband Internet access, telephone, cable, and video into one graphical user interface (GUI). Media centers are often operated with a remote control, connected to a television set for video output, and can often function as a normal personal computer. They are designed to receive, store, and play back digital media with a simple, portable, and cost-saving system.

Mediation

The act or process of using an intermediary to effect an agreement or reconciliation.

MLA Style Manual

A writing style guide that is published by the Modern Language Association and is widely used in academia for writing and the documentation of research in the humanities. MLA style uses a works cited page listing works cited in one's text and notes, either footnotes or endnotes, which is placed after the main body of a term paper, article, or book.

Moral

Good or right in conduct or character.

Problem

An unwelcome or harmful matter needing to be dealt with.

Problem Identification

The recognition of an unwelcome or harmful matter needing to be dealt with.

Problem Solving

The process of understanding a problem, devising a plan, carrying out the plan, and evaluating the plan in order to solve a problem or meet a need or want.

Problem Statement

1. Part of a design brief that clearly and concisely identifies a client’s or target consumer’s problem, need, or want. 2. Sometimes referred to as the first step in a problem solving process.

Process Documentation

A step-by-step record of the process used throughout a project or task.

Product

Product: A good, idea, method, information, object, service, etc., that is the end result of a process and satisfies a need or want. It is usually a bundle of tangible and intangible attributes (benefits, features, functions, uses).

Product Development Lifecycle

Product Development Lifecycle: The succession of stages a product goes through from inception, development, and use to eventual withdrawal from the marketplace. Product life cycle stages include research and development, introduction, market development, exploitation, maturation, saturation, and finally decline. For purposes of this course, the product development lifecycle is depicted in a flowchart format.

Product Life

Period over which a product progresses from its introduction to its withdrawal from the market.

Project Life Cycle

The phases that any project progresses through (initiating, planning, executing, controlling, and closing).

Project Management

Planning, organizing, and managing resources to successfully complete a project.

Pros and Cons

For and against; as a collective noun, the positive and negative attributes.

Recycle

To reclaim or reuse old materials in order to make new products.

Research

The systematic study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions.

Research and Development (R&D)

The practical application of scientific and engineering knowledge for discovering new knowledge about products, processes, and services, and then applying that knowledge to create new and improved products, processes, and services that fill market needs.

Research Methodologies

Research Methodologies: Certain stepwise methods that have been adopted by the technical and scientific communities for conducting research. 

Resource

The elements needed to get a job done. In a technological system, the basic technological resources are energy, capital, information, machines and tools, materials, people, and time.

Science

The study of the natural world through observation, identification, description, experimental investigation, and theoretical explanations.

Service Life

Period over which an asset (machine, property, computer system, etc.) is expected to be usable, with normal repairs and maintenance, for the purpose for which it was acquired.

Stakeholders

All those who are involved, interested in, or affected by the project.

Survey

In marketing, a detailed study of a market or geographical area to gather data on attitudes, impressions, opinions, satisfaction level, etc., by polling a section of the population.

Target Market

A specific group of consumers at which a company aims its products and services.

Trend Analysis

1. The study of the history of any type of product or system, such as the change in design, the price, and required volume over time to attempt to predict future needs or wants. 2. A comparative study of the component parts of a product or system and the tendency of a product or system to develop in a general direction over time.

Valid

Well-founded on evidence and corresponds accurately to the real world.

Validity

The property of being true.

Value Creation

The expression of the business benefits of the project, either in terms of cost savings, efficiency gains, increased sales, or reduced risk.