MSSR 1

bias

___is the systematic deviation between what is true about a phenomenon and the evidence a study produces, introduced by flaws in design, data collection, analysis, reasoning, or dissemination. Unlike random error, bias pulls results consistently in one direction, so it cannot be remedied by larger samples alone—it must be prevented or corrected at its source

critical appraisal and meta-research

___ is the systematic assessment of a study’s methodological quality, risk of

bias, and reporting transparency to judge how much confidence we can place in its findings.

___—also called “the science of science”—studies research methods, reporting

practices, and the publication ecosystem itself to identify strengths, weaknesses, and

pathways to more reliable knowledge. Together, they form the quality-control dashboard of

modern scholarship.

social science relevance

___ is the extent to which research both advances scholarly knowledge

and addresses real-world social problems. Work is relevant when its findings inform decisions, challenge common sense, or enrich public debate. Social scientists pursue relevance by analyzing patterned human behavior, institutions, and cultural meanings—domains that lie between the law-seeking ambitions of the natural sciences and the text-centered interpretations of the humanities. Achieving relevance typically requires practical significance, collaboration through engaged scholarship, and an openness to methodological pluralism that draws on insights from interdisciplinary research.

empirical / PPDAC cycle

___—often rendered in data-science texts as the ___—is a

structured, iterative model that guides researchers through five linked phases: Problem, Plan,

Data, Analysis, and Conclusion. The cycle emphasises that rigorous inquiry is not a one-off

linear march but a loop: the Conclusion of one study typically raises new questions, restarting

the cycle and refining theory

reflexivity and positionality

___ is the researcher’s explicit awareness of their own standpoint—the intersecting

social positions (race, gender, class, nationality, disciplinary background) that locate them

within broader power dynamics and shape every phase of the inquiry, from gaining access to interpreting data. Practising ___ means engaging in a continuous, critical interrogation of how that ___, along with underlying assumptions and technical choices, influences methodological decisions and the knowledge produced. Reflexive scholars maintain an audit trail—a documented record of identity memos, analytic notes, and decision logs—so that readers can trace how insights emerged and assess their credibility

reproducibility and replication

___ is the capacity for an independent scholar to obtain the same analytic results from the same evidence and fully transparent procedures.
___ is the capacity for independent investigators to reach consistent scientific conclusions with new evidence

case study

A ___ is an in-depth, context-sensitive investigation of a clearly bounded system—

such as a person, organisation, event, policy, or community—undertaken to explain how and

why processes and outcomes unfold in that setting. The same design logic can serve any

philosophical worldview (positivist, post-positivist, interpretivist, constructivist, pragmatist, or

transformative) so long as the researcher makes that stance explicit and aligns data-collection

practices, quality criteria, and claims accordingly. Case studies are also widely applied in

evaluation research, assessing how well a real-world programme or intervention works and

generating actionable lessons.

observational methods

___ are systematic, often unobtrusive approaches to studying behaviour

“in the wild.”

triangulation

___ is the deliberate use of multiple data sources, methods, investigators, or

theoretical lenses to examine the same phenomenon so findings can be corroborated, clarified,

or productively challenged. By comparing strands of evidence, researchers seek to bolster

credibility, the qualitative counterpart to quantitative validity, and to achieve a level of cross-

checking akin to reliability in measurement

unobtrusive methods

___ are systematic, non-reactive strategies that study behaviour indirectly,

drawing on trace data such as worn carpet fibres or server logs, analysing pre-existing

secondary data (e.g., censuses, court filings), mining digital traces—tweets, clickstreams,

geo-metadata—within larger archival records, and examining material culture objects

(artefacts, artworks, consumer goods). Because the researcher never asks questions in real

time, these methods observe people’s actions without altering them, allowing investigators to

examine both content and its context long after the fact

causality and causal models

___ lays out how a cause (X) produces an effect (Y), specifying direct effects,

explanatory mechanisms (or mediation), conditioning moderators/contexts, and possible

spurious associations that can create misleading links. Quantitative researchers usually

translate the model into equations, path diagrams, or directed-acyclic graphs (DAGs);

qualitative researchers express it as process-tracing chains or realist context–mechanism–

outcome (CMO) configurations. Whatever the format, the goal is the same: make

assumptions explicit so they can be scrutinised, tested, or refined.

thick description

___ is a qualitative reporting style in which the researcher records social action

in rich contextual detail and then interprets its layered meanings so readers grasp both what

happened and what the action meant to the actors involved. By linking behaviour to culture,

history, and local understandings, thick description transforms raw observation into an

analytically useful account of social reality.

operationalization

___ is the process of translating abstract concepts into measurable variables that can be observed and analyzed in research.

measurement validity

___ is the degree to which a study’s operational indicators genuinely capture the intended construct—so that observed relationships reflect reality, not flaws in the

instrument.

coding

___ is the systematic process of assigning meaningful labels (codes) to segments of data

thematic analysis

___ is a systematic, reflexive approach for identifying, analysing, and

reporting patterned meaning—called themes—within a data set. Analysts move iteratively

from initial codes (tight labels applied to data excerpts) toward richer semantic-level

descriptions or deeper latent-level interpretations, using cycles of reflexive iteration until

conceptual saturation is reached and the story of the data feels both compelling and

complete.

grounded theory

___ is an inductive, comparative research strategy in which data collection,

coding, memo-writing, and theoretical sampling proceed iteratively until a substantive

theory—grounded in, and emerging from, the data—accounts for the observed variation in a

core category

storytelling with data

___ is the purposeful, audience-centred practice of weaving narrative arcs,

visual evidence, and clear call-to-action cues so that quantitative or qualitative findings not

only inform but also persuade and inspire decision-making

ethnography

___ is an immersive, long-term style of social inquiry that relies on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and other fieldwork techniques to generate thick description of a cultural world from an insider’s point of view, all the while practising rigorous reflexivity about how the researcher’s own presence shapes what is seen and said.