Data gaps in Social Science

Representative open questions

Showing 30 of 48 — one per source paper, highest-quality first.

• Adequacy and Utilization of Physical Resources: Implications for Effective Teaching and Learning (2026) · doi

  While the paper establishes a positive relationship between physical resources and learning outcomes, it lacks quantitative comparative analysis of resource utilization patterns across rural and urban schools. The study needs to measure specific utilization rates (e.g., classroom occupancy, facility usage schedules, equipment deployment frequency) to explain why utilization differs significantly between settings despite both being inadequate.

• Digital Disruption of Academic Integrity (2026) · doi

  The gap between plagiarism awareness and plagiarism practice among postgraduate students remains unexplained; research is needed to investigate whether this knowledge-ethics behavior reconciliation gap varies by discipline, institutional plagiarism policy stringency, or student demographic characteristics in digital scholarship environments.

• Undergraduate occupational medicine tuition in UK schools of medicine (2011) · doi

  The study may overestimate current occupational medicine teaching activity because responders included only schools with established academic occupational medicine departments; a comprehensive survey methodology is needed that includes all UK medical schools regardless of departmental status to obtain accurate baseline data on occupational medicine coverage across the entire undergraduate medical curriculum.

• Exploring communication strategies and cultural inheritance of music education in the context of globalisation in China (2026) · doi

  The research documents curricular and institutional limitations preventing integration of global-traditional fusion courses in Chinese music education, but does not specify which policy mechanisms, bureaucratic procedures, or institutional decision-making frameworks at provincial and national levels actually block elective course proposals, nor does it quantify the implementation timeline delays between proposal and approval.

• Social media as a learning platform for dental undergraduates in Universiti Sains Malaysia (2026) · doi

  The study used an online self-completed questionnaire in a single Malaysian dental school, limiting generalizability to all dental students nationwide. Systematic sampling across all Malaysian dental schools is needed to establish representative patterns of social media usage in dental education.

• Teachers’ perceptions of artificial intelligence in curriculum integration: opportunities, concerns, and professional development needs (2026) · doi

  The study was conducted with only 30 in-service teachers from a single metropolitan area in Türkiye using convenience sampling; research is needed across diverse geographical regions and different educational systems to establish whether teachers' balanced perspectives on AI curriculum integration and concerns about psychosocial effects generalize beyond this limited context.

• Knowledge and Attitude Practices Regarding Eye Donation among University Students of Lahore: A Cross-Sectional Institution-Based Study (2026) · doi

  Current sampling is limited to Lahore institutions; nationally representative data on eye donation awareness across Pakistan's multiple regions and demographic contexts is absent, preventing generalization of findings regarding cultural and religious barriers to corneal donation.

• Learning Topography and Its Impact on Student Behavior: The Use of Microsoft Excel and AutoCAD as an Innovation in an Algerian University (2026) · doi

  The study identifies that 60% of Algerian secondary schools lacked computer science facilities in 2011, but does not investigate how this infrastructure deficit at the secondary level specifically impacts student preparedness for topography instruction using Microsoft Excel and AutoCAD at the university level. A longitudinal analysis tracking students from under-resourced secondary schools through topography coursework is needed.

• Stakeholder Collaboration in Managing Student Behavior and School Discipline: A Cambodian Primary School Case Study (2026) · doi

  The paper documents that peer influence and gang-related activity undermine disciplinary effectiveness but provides no comparative data on prevalence rates across rural versus urban Cambodian primary schools, or on the specific mechanisms by which gang networks recruit students. Research should quantify peer influence intensity in different school contexts and map the social network pathways through which gang-related behavioral norms spread within school populations.

• Wokeness as a Factor Shaping Teachers’ Conceptions Learners with Special Needs (LSN) vis-à-vis Inclusive Education (2026) · doi

  While the paper identifies that teachers maintain professional boundaries and confidentiality in digital spaces under the Philippine Data Privacy Act of 2012, no analysis is provided on compliance violations or breach incidents. Research is needed to audit actual teacher social media practices against legal requirements and document specific instances where professional boundaries were compromised regarding learners with special needs.

• Worlds apart, learning together (2026) · doi

  The authors did not empirically measure transitions between the four identified international student typologies or determine what triggers movement from one integration pattern to another; longitudinal tracking of students across academic years is needed to map typology transitions and identify the temporal dynamics of academic and social integration.

• Teachers’ perceptions of obstacles to adapting assessment and instructional materials for students with learning disabilities in mainstream education (2026) · doi

  The research demonstrates significant obstacles related to adapting assessment and instructional materials for students with learning disabilities in the Saudi Arabian context, but does not investigate how administrative pressures and limited class time quantitatively affect the frequency, quality, or effectiveness of actual material adaptations implemented by teachers during classroom instruction.

• Percepções de discentes e docentes sobre o currículo da licenciatura em matemática da FECLI/UECE (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies conflicting perceptions among faculty regarding the balance between advanced mathematics content and basic mathematics pedagogy in the mathematics licentiature curriculum, but lacks empirical data comparing student learning outcomes between curriculum structures that prioritize advanced content versus those emphasizing foundational teaching competencies.

• Effectiveness of Buddy System and Explicit Instruction in Improving Grade 9 Students’ Mathematics Achievement (2026) · doi

  The paper lacks qualitative data (classroom observations, student interviews, teacher reflections) examining how the Buddy System and Explicit Instruction interact in practice for Grade 9 students from diverse backgrounds. Systematic qualitative research using these methods is explicitly identified as necessary to understand implementation variability and mechanisms of effectiveness across different student populations.

• 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.

• Construction and Optimization of the Curriculum System for Physics Major in Normal Universities from the Perspective of Knowledge Graphs (2026) · doi

  Qualitative analysis relies on interviews, teaching reflection logs, and internship school feedback from the experimental class only; no parallel qualitative data collection from control class students is reported, limiting comparative analysis of how traditional curriculum students' knowledge correlation cognition and reflective practice differ systematically.

• The effectiveness of applying realistic mathematics education approach with the support of GeoGebra software (RME-SBG) in teaching calculus for high school students: A case of teaching the concept of derivatives (2026) · doi

  The paper does not discuss the teacher's experience, training, or implementation fidelity regarding the RME-SBG model, which could be a significant factor influencing the observed outcomes.

• Descriptive Analysis of Science Process Skills (SPS) and Scientific Reasoning (SR) of High School Students and Pre-service Teacher in Science Learning (2026) · doi

  Practical activities that can practice observation, measurement, classification, experiments, and data analysis are not intensive enough to really strengthen SPS even though students feel their scientific reasoning is relatively better.

• The 325-Teaching Model and Physics Learning: Improvements in Students’ Experiences and Interest (2026) · doi

  The study was conducted with only 33 Grade 10 high school students from a single context, limiting generalizability across different school settings, grade levels, and educational systems.

• The Influence of Teachers’ and Students’ Perceptions of Educational Technologies on Lesson Planning and Learning Performance (2026) · doi

  While the regression models explained substantial variance in learning performance (R² = 0.681), approximately 32% of the variance remains unexplained, suggesting other unmeasured factors influence student learning outcomes.

• Student Silence in Bangladeshi Tertiary-level EFL Classrooms: A Mixed-Method Study of Factors, Perceptions, and Recommendations (2026) · doi

  Further research could explore teacher perspectives on student silence or assess the long-term impact of specific classroom interventions on participation.

• Transforming Environmental Education by Innovative Approaches to Teaching Sustainability and Biodiversity in the 21st Century (2026) · doi

  The paper does not specify the sample size, demographic characteristics, or geographic scope of the study, limiting generalizability of findings across different educational contexts and student populations.

• Family participation in emergency distance learning: A multiple case study on sixth-grade students, parents, and teachers (2026) · doi

  Limited exploration of how socioeconomic factors, family structure variations, and cultural differences influence family participation in distance learning.

• Towards Inclusive Education in Art and Design Programmes: An Enquiry into the Availability of Resources and Support Systems (2026) · doi

  The qualitative interview data appears incomplete in the excerpt, with one respondent's quote truncated mid-sentence ('The provi'), suggesting additional analysis or data collection may be needed.

• Associação entre autopercepção de saúde e indicadores de ensino remoto, atividade física e saúde mental em estudantes de Educação Física durante a pandemia de COVID-19 (2026) · doi

  The psychological impacts of epidemics may be prolonged depending on social context and the environment in which individuals live, but long-term follow-up studies are needed to understand sustained effects beyond the acute pandemic phase.

• A value-driven life in the detective novel Death of the Nile by Agatha Christie (2026) · doi

  The generalization that 'Linnet, Jacqueline and Simon represent the vast majority of the European population' lacks empirical sociological data or statistical evidence to support this broad claim.

• Quando a matemática encontra a ludicidade: percepções docentes sobre a ludicidade no ensino médio (2026) · doi

  The research lacks investigation into student resistance and adaptation to ludic pedagogical approaches, particularly for students accustomed to traditional teaching methods.

• Toward Partnership Ethics for Generative Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education (2026) · doi

  Universities need to develop strategies for disseminating information about genAI's environmental impact to students and teachers, but the effectiveness of different dissemination approaches has not been evaluated.

• Difficulties of Middle School Science Teachers with Non-physics Major in Teaching Physics Units (2024) · doi

  The study examined only one specific unit ('Electricity and Magnetism') in depth; research extending across multiple physics units is needed to establish broader patterns.

• The Changes inPre-Service Chemistry Teachers OrientationsTowards Chemistry TeachingDuring Chemistry Teaching Method Courses (2022) · doi

  More importance is given to chemistry courses and the nature of science is neglected in pre-service chemistry teacher education programmes, which may explain why pre-service chemistry teachers did not emphasise the nature of science during the present study.