Glossary
A shared vocabulary for research methods, backtesting, risk review, portfolio analysis, and quantitative decision-making workflows.
Methods
Research design, hypotheses, evidence standards, and review discipline.
3 terms
Backtesting
Historical evaluation terms and common sources of overstatement.
4 terms
Risk
Drawdown, exposure, loss control, and stress-review vocabulary.
3 terms
Portfolio
Allocation, concentration, diversification, and performance measurement terms.
3 terms
Methods
Research design, hypotheses, evidence standards, and review discipline.
A testable claim that states what relationship or behavior the research expects to observe.
Related: pre-analysis plan, primary metric, falsifiability
A written note that defines the question, sample, metric, and decision rule before reviewing the final result.
Related: hypothesis, research journal, p-hacking
The main measurement used to judge whether a result supports the research question.
Related: scorecard, benchmark, decision rule
Backtesting
Historical evaluation terms and common sources of overstatement.
A research error where an analysis uses information that would not have been available at the simulated decision time.
Related: point-in-time data, data leakage, out-of-sample
Data reserved for evaluation after rules or parameters have been chosen on separate development data.
Related: walk-forward analysis, overfitting, validation
A research error caused by testing only observations that survived to the current sample.
Related: universe selection, sample period, benchmark
The frictions that reduce implementable results, including fees, spreads, market impact, and other execution costs.
Related: slippage, turnover, capacity
Risk
Drawdown, exposure, loss control, and stress-review vocabulary.
The decline from a prior peak to a subsequent trough in an equity curve or portfolio value series.
Related: time under water, tail risk, risk budget
A defined allowance for how much loss, volatility, concentration, or exposure a portfolio component may contribute.
Related: position sizing, exposure, drawdown
Exposure to rare but severe outcomes that can dominate long-term results or survival constraints.
Related: stress test, drawdown, ruin
Portfolio
Allocation, concentration, diversification, and performance measurement terms.
A reference series or policy portfolio used to evaluate performance, risk, exposure, or opportunity cost.
Related: alpha, beta, tracking error
The degree to which exposure is dominated by a small number of holdings, factors, sectors, or assumptions.
Related: diversification, exposure, allocation
The process of returning allocations toward defined targets or adjusting them under documented rules.
Related: allocation, drift, turnover
This content is for educational and technical research purposes only. It is not financial advice, investment advice, trading advice, tax advice, or legal advice. Backtests and examples may contain errors or omissions. Past performance does not guarantee future results. Always test code in a safe environment before using it with real accounts or live trading systems.
InQuantWeTrust publishes educational content for quantitative research and analytical methods. It does not provide personalized advice, trade recommendations, managed services, or guaranteed outcomes.
