Methodology gaps in Social Science

Representative open questions

Showing 28 of 44 — 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 identifies that counter-extremism policy operates through multiple channels—legislative definition of terrorist organizations, media representations, surveillance patterns, and educational programs—but lacks empirical analysis of how these channels interact and their relative causal weights in producing racialized religious otherness. A systematic comparative study is needed examining the differential effects of each channel on civic engagement and political trust across specific minority communities.

• A corpus-based critical discourse analysis of news on the web representing Saudi Vision 2030 (2026) · doi

  While the analysis identifies linguistic patterns in modal verbs ("will," "aims") and nominalization strategies used to construct legitimacy and agency in Vision 2030 discourse, there is no comparative quantitative analysis of modal verb frequency distributions or passivization rates across different news sources and time periods to validate whether these framing patterns show statistically significant variation.

• Artificial intelligence as a potential empowerment tool for single mothers: opportunities, risks, and structural implications (2026) · doi

  The paper argues that AI must be integrated within a framework of justice-oriented design and social responsibility, but provides no operationalized criteria, design standards, or governance structures for what such integration should entail in practice for single-mother support systems.

• 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

  While the analysis identified that social supportive knowledge (peer advice, family influence) is a significant auxiliary condition in China, the specific mechanisms by which social network structure, tie strength, and peer credibility within WeChat or other Chinese platforms translate knowledge into purchasing decisions for green foods during pregnancy were not modeled or quantified.

• Advertising Ban in Healthcare: A Qualitative Study from the Perspective of Private Hospital Managers in Türkiye (2026) · doi

  The qualitative data from 12 managers is susceptible to social desirability bias, as participants may align responses with professional ethical standards rather than revealing actual practices. A mixed-methods approach combining qualitative interviews with quantitative analysis of actual hospital advertisements on social media platforms would strengthen findings on real versus reported advertising behavior.

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

  The paper proposes a Pancasila Screening Mechanism as an ideological-philosophical alignment test for healthcare legislation but does not operationalize the specific criteria, evaluation framework, or decision rules by which JKN regulations and their implementing guidelines would be assessed against Pancasila principles during the legislative review process.

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

  The paper identifies regional cooperation mechanisms for addressing cross-border digital manipulation as necessary but provides no framework for detecting transnational coordination capabilities or systematic information coordination between dynasties across Southeast Asian states. Research should develop methodologies to identify coordinated digital operations across borders, establish baseline data on transnational dynastic information networks, and propose technical standards for regional monitoring systems.

• Is It Worth It? An Experimental Examination of the Added Value of Deliberation in a Direct Democratic Process (2026) · doi

  The linear regression models assume linear effects on the 1-7 ordinal scale outcome acceptance measure, which may not be reasonable given the distribution characteristics. Future analyses should employ ordinal logistic regression or other ordinal response models to properly account for the non-linear structure of the outcome acceptance dependent variable in this deliberative process experiment.

• Understanding digital health technology implementation in rehabilitation and development of the Rehabilitation Technologies Implementation model (2026) · doi

  The qualitative interview sample was limited to three female members of the research team as interviewers, which may introduce gender and interviewer bias in data collection. Future research should compare findings across interviews conducted by male and female interviewers with varying levels of therapy experience to assess whether interviewer demographics influence stakeholder responses regarding digital health technology implementation in rehabilitation.

• Ancient echoes as clues to the structural relationship between grotto soundscapes and auditory perception (2026) · doi

  The paper acknowledges that current evidence is insufficient to directly infer specific religious meanings or concrete ritual practices from acoustic affordances alone, yet does not outline what additional data types (e.g., ethnographic observation, liturgical texts, oral history) or integrated methodologies would be required to bridge this gap. Research should establish a mixed-methods framework explicitly combining acoustic characterization with religious practice documentation.

• Biology, Ethics, and Debunking Arguments (2021) · doi

  Ruse's claim that epigenetically determined moral sentiments create an illusion of objectivity requires empirical specification of which specific moral rules or normative domains are products of epigenetic hardwiring versus cultural transmission. Research delineating the precise mechanisms by which epigenetic rules generate normative force and distinguishing hardwired from culturally-acquired moral intuitions remains incomplete.

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

  The paper references studies on riyā' (ostentation) and modesty in the hadith context but does not operationalize measurable indicators to detect performative identity versus authentic religious expression in social media posts. Future work should develop quantitative metrics for distinguishing between authentic Qur'anic-aligned identity performance and narcissistic self-presentation using computational linguistic analysis.

• Science, Biology, and Religion (2021) · doi

  The paper invokes religious experience, historical events, and sacred texts as 'relevant data' for religious paradigms but does not operationalize how these data types are weighted, interpreted, or adjudicated when they conflict, unlike the explicit evidentiary standards in scientific paradigms.

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

  The paper identifies that bias discourse in AI regulatory documents concentrates on bias avoidance rather than articulating concrete operational criteria for unbiased AI systems. Developing specific, measurable definitions of algorithmic bias that account for the spatiotemporal dependency of bias across different legal cultures and regions is needed to move beyond vague modifiers like 'harmful' or 'unjust' toward enforceable standards in global AI regulations.

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

  The semantic expansion documented in words like sakti is analyzed only descriptively through cultural context; quantitative analysis of semantic field changes across historical texts (Tolkappiyam, Silappatikaram, Purananuru, modern Tamil) would establish whether semantic shift follows predictable patterns correlating with specific historical periods of cultural contact between Indo-Aryan and Dravidian traditions.

• Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Whole-Exome Sequencing in Biobank Initiatives: Consent, Governance, and Trust Methods, Challenges, and Future Directions (2026) · doi

  The ability to contact participants and validate original consent provisions is compromised by frequent changes in research landscapes and evolving sociopolitical contexts; biobanks require mechanisms to systematically re-evaluate and update negotiated obligations for WES data use, but protocols for managing this continuous consent re-evaluation remain underdeveloped.

• Etika kepimpinan moral pengarah urusan syarikat pembinaan dalam aspek pengurusan syarikat [The ethical moral leadership of managing directors in construction companies in the aspect of company management] (2026) · doi

  The paper identifies multi-religious welfare support practices (Chinese New Year, Thaipusam, Hari Raya Haji celebrations) as evidence of moral ethical leadership but does not systematically measure how these welfare initiatives affect inter-ethnic workplace relationships, organizational cohesion, or conflict prevention in culturally diverse construction companies.

• Pembinaan dan Validasi Soal Selidik Faktor Sosiobudaya berkaitan COVID-19 dalam kalangan Orang Asli di Malaysia (2024) · doi

  Analisis 'Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)' tidak dapat dilakukan kerana analisis CFA memerlukan saiz sampel yang lebih besar dan mengambil masa yang lama untuk…

• Career Pathways for Social Sciences in the 21st Century (2026) · doi

  Diversity and inclusion initiatives are proposed to address underrepresentation, particularly of women and racial/ethnic minorities, but the paper lacks detailed mechanisms for measuring the effectiveness of mentorship programs, scholarship funds, and pipeline programs.

• The effects of affordability and quality of care on utilization of primary healthcare among rural residents in Twifo Ati-Morkwaa district, Ghana: a qualitative study (2026) · doi

  Some IDIs were relatively short (~20 min), which may constrain the depth of provider narratives.

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

  Future research should establish clear behavioural indicators and monitoring and evaluation systems to assess the success of moral public service delivery development programmes, focusing on actual behaviour change and improvements in service delivery outcomes.

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

  Need for longitudinal studies examining the long-term effects of dietary pattern interventions on blood pressure control and quality of life in hypertensive…

• Exploring Librarians' Experiences in Integrating Artificial Intelligence into Reference Services: A Quantitative Study in West Bengal (2026) · doi

  The research is limited to quantitative methodology; qualitative exploration of librarians' experiences, institutional barriers, and implementation challenges could provide deeper insights.

• Setting Empire in Stone: Commemoration and the Crisis of Historical Subjectivity (2026) · doi

  While the paper documents transnational movements' role in radicalizing Martinican cultural activism through elder activist interviews, there is insufficient analysis of how these global social movements translate into local policy outcomes and institutional change.

• Disparities in Marriage Dispensation Due to Pregnancy: Analysis of Vage Women Norm and Maṣlaḥah Mursalah (2026) · doi

  Interdisciplinary research involving legal scholars, psychologists, and social workers could strengthen the empirical basis for policy reforms in this area.

• Building a Discursive Arsenal: Engineering Weaponized Speech in the Service of Authoritarianism (2026) · doi

  Limited empirical analysis of the quantitative effects and measurable outcomes of discursive weaponization on political behavior, voting patterns, or policy outcomes.

• Algorithmic Ethics and Qur'anic Tabayyun: Knowledge Authority and AI Bias in the Digital Age (2026) · doi

  Further research could combine a literature review approach with empirical research, such as surveys, interviews, or case studies, to provide a more in-depth understanding of the phenomenon being studied.

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

  The research does not explore differences in engagement patterns, symbolic interpretation, or participation levels across different demographic segments of the fanbase (age, nationality, tenure as fan).