The swift evolution of digital spaces challenges the established norms of ethical research policy. Ineffective ethical review diminishes researchers' ability to conduct cutting-edge and socially sensitive research, institutions' ability to engage at the forefront of technology, and the relationship between researcher and committee. In criminology…

The current article used real data to demonstrate the analysis and synthesis of Mixed Methods Research (MMR) data with generative Artificial Intelligence (Gen AI). I explore how reliable and valid Gen AI data outputs are and how to improve their use. The current content is geared towards enhancing methodological application regardless of field or…

Typically, parents or other legal guardians are asked for an active declaration that the participation of their child in scientific research is informed and voluntary. However, asking for active parental consent leads to lower quality studies and passive parental consent might be preferable. In this study, we used an online survey in which parents…

The article explores the role that subjective evidence of causality and associated counterfactuals and counterpotentials might play in the social sciences where comparative cases are scarce. This scarcity rules out statistical inference based upon frequencies and usually invites in-depth ethnographic studies. Thus, if causality is to be preserved…

Comparative and case study researchers have responded to critiques of their methods by developing formal procedures to validate theoretical claims through set theoretical logics of causal conditions. This 'logico-formalist turn' has involved the stricter application of the schemas of set theory and the philosophy of logic to raise validation…

We assess the case for a decline in the use of survey data in the social sciences during a period in which conventional survey research has faced existential challenges to its ongoing feasibility and growing competition from new forms of 'Big Data'. Presser (1983) and Converse (1987) undertook content analysis of articles published in a set of…

This article addresses the following question: Can speculation be used in social science research or should this not be an option? The secondary literature on speculation, which is minimal, is presented and discussed. It is noted that natural scientists often differentiate between a scientific form of speculation and the old metaphysical form of…

This paper responds to some recent discussions in the Journal about how interview data can be used. While recognising the value of detailed analysis of the discourse employed in interviews to identify its formal features, it is argued that such analysis is not essential for all the purposes for which interview data can be employed in social…

The challenge and pleasures of studying child and adolescent peer experiences come from the complexity and the significance of these relationships for development in childhood and adolescence. In spite of the recognized strengths of the current literature on the effects of experiences with peers, research on peer experiences is often limited by an…

This article responds to the argued lack of clearly articulated, consistent, and agreed criteria that might be used by researchers for determining the adequacy of a given concept for a given task. It does so by describing the development of a framework of such criteria, presenting that framework, and illustratively applying it to the evaluation of…

This paper aims to advocate for a balanced approach to model fit evaluation in structural equation modeling (SEM). The ongoing debate surrounding chi-square test statistics and fit indices has been characterized by ambiguity and controversy. Despite the acknowledged limitations of relying solely on the chi-square test, its careful application can…

The replication crisis in social and behavioral sciences has raised concerns about the reliability and validity of empirical studies. While research in the literature has explored contributing factors to this crisis, the issues related to analytical tools have received less attention. This study focuses on a widely used analytical tool -…

Expectations for and rates of scholarly productivity have increased substantively across academic fields, including physical education and sport pedagogy. Concurrent with higher scholarly output has been an increase in collaborative, team approaches to science and fewer sole authored publications. This has led to the development and propagation of…

Breaches of research integrity have gained considerable attention due to high-profile scandals involving questionable research practices by reputable scientists. These practices include plagiarism, manipulation of authorship, biased presentation of findings and misleading reports of significance. To combat such practices, policymakers tend to rely…

This paper aims to critique approaches to qualitative coding that carry a bottom-up or inductive thinking. Despite the wide contributions of this epistemology to the social sciences, this paper contends that contemporary research and methodological debates have inadequately explored different epistemologies for coding. As such, this paper proposes…