Glossary

Search results

Random Walk(also: Random Walk Sampling)

In web-accessibility evaluation, a random walk is a probabilistic sampling method that starts from a seed page (typically the home page) and follows outgoing links according to a probability rule — for example, with probability d follow a uniformly-chosen outgoing link, and with…

Randomization Test(also: Randomisation Test, Permutation Test)

A randomization test (also called a permutation test) is a non-parametric statistical test that computes a p-value by re-shuffling the observed data many times under the null hypothesis and asking how often the re-shuffled data produce a test statistic as extreme as the one…

Red Teaming(also: Generative Red-Teaming, AI Red Teaming)

A structured evaluation practice in which an adversarial team probes a system — traditionally a network or application, increasingly an AI model or conversational agent — with realistic attack scenarios to find failures before malicious actors do. Generative red-teaming…

Reflection-in-Action(also: Reflection-on-Action)

A concept from Donald Schön's theory of reflective practice (The Reflective Practitioner, 1983) describing how skilled practitioners adjust their approach in the moment, based on tacit knowledge and immediate feedback from the situation, rather than by following pre-specified…

Reflexive Ethnography

Reflexive ethnography is an approach to ethnographic research in which the researcher explicitly documents and analyses how their own identity, assumptions, relationships and shifting position in the field shape the knowledge produced. Rather than presenting findings as neutral…

Reflexive Thematic Analysis(also: RTA)

A qualitative data analysis method developed by Braun and Clarke that involves open-coding transcripts, identifying patterns, and organizing findings into themes through iterative refinement. Reflexive thematic analysis emphasizes the researchers's positionality and how their…

Reflexive thematic analysis(also: RTA)

A qualitative research method developed by Braun and Clarke that involves the researcher actively and reflexively generating themes from data, rather than treating themes as pre-existing entities to be discovered. Unlike other thematic analysis approaches, RTA explicitly…

Reflexivity(also: Researcher Reflexivity)

A research practice in which scholars continuously examine how their own identities, positions, assumptions, disciplinary training, and power relationships shape the research they conduct — the questions they ask, the methods they choose, the participants they recruit, and the…

Region of Interest(also: ROI, Area of Interest, AOI)

A specific area within an image, video frame, or user interface that has been identified as particularly relevant or important for analysis or user attention. In eye-tracking research, regions of interest are predefined areas on a stimulus where fixation data is collected to…

Regression(also: Regressive Saccade, Regressive Eye Movement)

In the context of reading and eye tracking, a regression is a backward eye movement (right-to-left in left-to-right scripts) where the reader returns to previously read text. Regressions typically occur when a reader has difficulty understanding a word or passage and needs to…

Rehabilitation science(also: Rehabilitation research)

An interdisciplinary field focused on understanding and improving function, independence, and quality of life for people with disabilities, injuries, or chronic conditions. Rehabilitation science draws on medicine, engineering, psychology, and social science to develop…

Remote Usability Testing(also: Remote User Study, Remote User Evaluation)

Usability testing conducted with participants in their own homes or workplaces rather than in a research lab, typically using video conferencing, screen sharing, or other remote communication tools. Remote methods became especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic and…

Repository Mining(also: Software Repository Mining, Mining Software Repositories)

A research methodology that involves extracting and analysing data from software repositories such as version control systems, bug trackers, code-sharing platforms, and Q&A sites like Stack Overflow. In accessibility research, repository mining has been used to assess whether…

Research Fatigue(also: Participant Fatigue, Community Research Fatigue)

The exhaustion or disengagement experienced by individuals or communities that are repeatedly recruited for research studies, particularly when they see little benefit or change resulting from their participation. In disability communities, research fatigue is a growing concern…

Research Probe(also: Design Research Probe, Technology Probe)

A purpose-built, partially functional artefact — often a software prototype, sensor, or interactive installation — deployed in a study not primarily to deliver a finished product but to provoke reflection, surface user needs, and generate design insight. Distinct from cultural…

Research Through Design(also: RtD)

A research methodology in which the design process itself serves as a mode of inquiry, generating knowledge through the iterative creation and evaluation of artifacts, systems, or experiences. Unlike traditional research that studies existing phenomena, Research Through Design…

Research reciprocity(also: Participatory reciprocity)

The principle that research participation should be a mutually beneficial exchange in which participants gain value — such as social connection, learning opportunities, a sense of contributing to knowledge, or direct improvements to their lives — rather than being treated solely…

Research-through-Design(also: RtD)

A research methodology, articulated by Zimmerman, Forlizzi, and Evenson (2007), in which the act of designing artefacts is itself the mode of inquiry. Knowledge is produced through iterative cycles of prototyping, deployment, evaluation, and reflection, and is typically…

Resistant Reading(also: Reading Against the Grain, Resistant Reader)

A critical reading method, originally articulated by feminist literary theorist Judith Fetterley, that refuses the interpretive framework an author invites the reader to adopt and instead reads texts for what they silence, marginalise, or explain away. In HCI and accessibility…

Response Bias(also: Acquiescence Bias, Yea-Saying Bias)

A systematic tendency for research participants to respond in a particular way regardless of the actual content of the question, distorting data collection and analysis. In accessibility research involving people with intellectual disabilities, acquiescence bias — the tendency…

Retrospective Protocol(also: Retrospective Think Aloud, Retrospective Verbal Protocol, Post-Task Protocol)

A usability evaluation method in which participants complete tasks first and then describe their thought processes, decisions, and experiences immediately afterwards, rather than verbalising concurrently during the task. Retrospective protocols are particularly important in…

Robotic Social Attributes Scale(also: RoSAS, RoSAS-SF, Robotic Social Attributes Scale Short Form)

A validated psychometric instrument developed by Carpinella et al. (2017) that measures how people perceive the social attributes of a robot along three subscales: Warmth (how likable, friendly, and companionable the robot feels), Competence (how capable, knowledgeable, and…

22 results.