What term refers to the number of times a specific value appears in a study?

The term that refers to the number of times a specific value appears in a study is frequency. Frequency is a fundamental concept in research and statistics that quantifies how often particular values or responses occur within a dataset. For example, if you were conducting a survey and recorded the number of participants who selected a particular option, the frequency would be the count of how many times that option was chosen.

This concept is essential for analyzing data, as it helps researchers understand patterns and trends within the information collected. By examining the frequencies of various responses, social workers can gain insights into the characteristics and behaviors of the population they are studying. This is particularly important for making informed decisions based on empirical evidence.

In contrast, a constant refers to a fixed value that does not change across observations, a demographic variable describes characteristics such as age, gender, or income that can influence research findings, and a dependent variable is the outcome that is measured and affected by changes in other variables in an experiment. Each of these terms serves a different role in research methodology, while frequency specifically focuses on the occurrence of values within a dataset.