of a phenomenon. Obtaining data from more than one source (e.g. inter-
views, observations, and documents) is the most commonly used type of
triangulation. Triangulation may also involve using multiple methods (e.g.
from interviews, questionnaires, observation schedules, test scores, etc.),
multiple researchers (i.e. the use of more than one researcher in a study), or
multiple theories for the interpretation of data. Issues concerning the use of
triangulation in research include whether triangulation overcomes problems
of bias, reliability andvalidityor merely produces a fuller picture
of a phenomenon and whether or not it is legitimate to combine research
methods based on theoretical paradigms which include different assump-
tions about the nature of social reality.
see also multi-trait multi-method methodtrigger requirement n
see learnability theory
trill n
also roll
a speech sound (a consonant) in which the tongue vibrates against the
roof of the mouth, producing a series of rapid taps. In some forms of
Scottish English, /r/ as in ripis a trill.
triphthong n
(in phonetics) a term sometimes used for a combination of three vowels.
For example, in English:
/aiv/ as in /faivr/ fire
is a triphthong.
see also diphthong, monophthong
true beginner n
see false beginner
true/false item n
a type of test item or test task that requires test takers to decide whether a
given statement is either “true” or “false”, which is a dichotomous choice,
as the answer or response.
see also selected-response item
T score n
(in statistics) a standard score whose distributionhas a mean of 50
and a standard deviation of 10.
trigger requirement