Unit of analysis

How it is used

Distinguish the subject of conclusions from the source of measurements.

Example sentences

1. The school is our unit of analysis, although individual teachers completed the survey.

   Teacher responses support conclusions about schools.

2. For the newspaper study, each article served as the unit of analysis.

   Articles, rather than newspapers, are being compared.

Common collocations

• define the unit of analysis
• appropriate unit of analysis

Related terms

• sampleThe smaller group of people, items or texts selected from a larger population for a study, so that conclusions can be drawn about that population.
• analysisDetailed examination of data or a text in order to identify patterns, relationships or meaning, often using statistical or qualitative techniques.

More terms: Research Design

• research
• research question
• hypothesis
• methodology
• qualitative
• quantitative
• participant
• questionnaire
• case study
• carry out
• validity
• reliability