Data gaps in Social Science

Representative open questions

Showing 23 of 32 — one per source paper, highest-quality first.

• Between security and belonging: state policy on religious extremism, political values and the politics of identity (2026) · doi

  The paper argues that the 'moderate Muslim' construct is operationalized to privilege individuals compatible with liberal majority norms but provides no systematic data on selection criteria used by states when identifying counter-extremism partners, nor measures of actual community credibility/legitimacy of selected versus excluded religious leaders. Research should quantify the gap between state-preferred 'moderate' interlocutors and those with genuine community standing across different national contexts.

• Governing Cross-Border Cyber Threat Intelligence Sharing for Maritime Security Resilience in the Strait of Malacca (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies coordination deficits and normative sensitivities as primary obstacles to cyber threat intelligence sharing in Global South regions but does not quantify the relative impact of fragmentation across agencies versus legal classification barriers versus sovereignty-centred diplomatic traditions on actual intelligence-sharing delays.

• Unveiling digital knowledge pathways for pregnancy-related green food purchase orientations: a comparative fsQCA study of social media discourse in China and Thailand (2026) · doi

  The machine learning topic recognition and fsQCA analysis focused on static social media text from pregnant women; longitudinal tracking of how knowledge configurations and green food consumption orientations evolve during pregnancy trimesters or across multiple pregnancies, and how algorithm-mediated platform exposure shapes knowledge acquisition over time, was not conducted.

• Regulatory Harmonization in Healthcare Services and the Implementation of Pancasila Values in the National Health Insurance Era (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies political dynamics and economic interests as inhibiting factors in healthcare regulatory harmonization with Pancasila values, but does not analyze specific cases of regulatory capture, lobbying activities, or competing economic interests that have prevented JKN legislation from accommodating social justice and humanitarian principles.

• Democratic decay by design: how political dynasties rewrite the rules of power in Indonesia? (2026) · doi

  The paper documents that media literacy programs addressing algorithmic manipulation and coordinated inauthentic behavior are crucial but does not specify which demographic segments in Indonesia are most vulnerable to specific types of digital influence operations, nor does it provide evidence of existing media literacy intervention effectiveness. Research should conduct audience segmentation analysis and pilot test media literacy program designs specifically targeting algorithmic manipulation awareness in Indonesian contexts.

• ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE-GENERATED ART AND THE QUESTION OF AUTHORSHIP (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies cultural bias in generative AI training datasets but does not specify which artistic traditions, geographical regions, or cultural styles are underrepresented in current datasets. Future work should conduct a systematic audit of training datasets used in GANs, diffusion models, and prompt-based AI art systems to document which cultural representations are imbalanced and by what magnitude.

• Controversies in biology: implications for the study of biology and politics (2017) · doi

  The current literature lacks studies examining how motivated reasoning neural activation patterns differ across political candidate statements, election cycles, and policy domains beyond the 2004 presidential election context. Research should test whether brain activation patterns associated with contradiction detection and affective regulation in motivated reasoning generalize across different political candidates, temporal contexts, and policy controversy types.

• The Qur’anic Perspective On Identity Construction In Social Media (2026) · doi

  While the paper links digital ethics with Qur'anic identity construction, it lacks comparative analysis between different Muslim demographic groups (Arab, South Asian, Southeast Asian communities). Longitudinal studies tracking identity performance shifts across these communities on specific platforms would address this gap in understanding culturally-contextualized digital identity practices.

• Systemic racism, systemic sexism, and the embryological enterprise (2021) · doi

  The paper documents how metaphors in describing sperm, eggs, and fertilization processes have historically embedded sexist assumptions into embryological discourse (Martin 1991; Schatten and Schatten 1983), but does not provide systematic analysis of contemporary embryology textbooks and primary literature to identify remaining gendered or racialized metaphorical framings in sex determination and gonadal differentiation descriptions.

• Consensus and legitimation in global AI regulations: a sociosemiotic perspective (2026) · doi

  The sociosemiotic discourse analysis identifies that non-discrimination and bias prevention discourse varies significantly across the forty-seven regulatory documents in undefined ways regarding which domains (ethnicity, religion, nationality, region) receive explicit attention versus implicit coverage. Systematic mapping of how sensitive domain harms are differentially specified across jurisdictions would clarify whether regulatory consensus on non-discrimination represents genuine agreement or semantic divergence masked by shared terminology.

• Simulated influence, real impacts: a cross-cultural qualitative study of ethical and emotional perceptions of virtual influencers (2026) · doi

  The study examines ethical and emotional perceptions of virtual influencers across cultures using qualitative thematic analysis, but does not specify which cultural groups were sampled or how cross-cultural differences in uncanny valley responses and authenticity perceptions vary systematically between Western and non-Western audiences.

• The Effects of Deradicalization Standardized Policy in Advancing Human Security (2026) · doi

  The reconstructed regulatory model integrates religious scholars, academics, and community actors into multi-stakeholder participation for deradicalization program implementation, but lacks empirical data on how to operationalize credibility assessment, measure contextual appropriateness of ideological narratives, and validate persuasiveness of counter-narratives delivered by different stakeholder categories.

• Etimologi kata pinjaman Sanskrit terpilih dalam bahasa Tamil [Etymology of selected Sanskrit loan words in Tamil] (2026) · doi

  The analysis treats Tamil as a monolithic linguistic system; investigation into whether Sanskrit borrowing patterns differ across regional Tamil dialects, literary versus colloquial registers, and diachronic stages (classical, medieval, modern Tamil) would clarify whether phonological and morphological adaptation mechanisms vary by language variety.

• Intermedial Narrative as a Phenomenon of Contemporary Artistic Communication (2026) · doi

  The paper emphasizes that both artists and audiences must possess understanding of basic codes and media-specific means of expression for active participation, but provides no empirical data on what specific competencies, prior experience, or training enhance audience capability to interpret complex intermedial narratives.

• Importance of moral public service delivery in the age of artificial intelligence (2026) · doi

  There is a lack of empirical study on moral public service delivery in AI-driven public administration throughout the continent, limiting the depth of African regional literature.

• The Algorithmic Leviathan: Artificial Intelligence, The Reshaping of Political Power, and the Existential Threat to Human Agency (2026) · doi

  The paper mentions AI-powered bots in the 2020 U.S. elections but does not provide comprehensive data on the prevalence, effectiveness, or legal implications of such systems across multiple election cycles.

• Interaction and Support from Haechan NCT Fans Through the Fanbase Instagram Account @Haechanoonaa (2026) · doi

  The research is limited to Instagram as the platform; investigation of fan interactions across other social media platforms (Twitter, TikTok, YouTube) where K-pop fandoms are also active is absent.

• American Social Medicine in the Shadow of Socialized Medicine (2025) · doi

  The excerpt concludes by introducing the establishment of social medicine departments at Harvard and UNC in the 1970s-1980s but states these 'demonstrated diverse visions' without elaborating on what those visions were or how they differed.

• Hubungan Pola Makan Dengan Kualitas Hidup Pasien Hipertensi Di Poliklinik Penyakit Dalam Rumah Sakit Bhakti Medicare Cicurug Kabupaten Sukabumi Provinsi Jawa Barat (2026) · doi

  Limited research on the relationship between dietary patterns and quality of life in hypertensive patients across different geographic regions and age…

• Indigenous Leadership and Its Role in Anglo-Sirmaur Relations (2026) · doi

  The paper does not comprehensively address what specific negotiation strategies indigenous leaders employed to secure their positions within post-colonial India or the outcomes of these negotiations.

• From agricultural chemistry to toxicology: the AOAC and the politics of validation (2026) · doi

  Available documents do not state who asked the AOAC to do this work, though it was likely the FDA based on institutional ties.

• Afterword: Struggling with and for Social Medicine (2025) · doi

  Social medicine history needs more sustained focus on social movements, including sociopolitical incorporation of marginalized peoples and struggles around health justice, Indigenous rights, workers' rights, racial justice, gender justice, and environmental justice.

• DESCRIPTIVE STUDY OF SOME ASPECTS OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC BEHAVIOR OF A FEMALE ADOLESCENT POPULATION (2025) · doi

  Serious cultural and health deficiencies are noted with extremely low knowledge regarding contraception coming from random sources; systematic assessment of information source reliability and educational effectiveness is needed.