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R0050/2026-03-31-02/Q002/H2

Research R0050 — Journalism Disciplines
Run 2026-03-31-02
Query Q002
Hypothesis H2

Statement

Some disciplines have formal truth-seeking methodologies but most contribute concepts already captured by the nine reference frameworks — the novel contributions are few.

Status

Current: Inconclusive

Supporting Evidence

Evidence Summary
SRC03-E01 Bradford Hill criteria overlap substantially with GRADE's approach to causal inference
SRC08-E01 OCEBM levels of evidence hierarchy is closely related to GRADE
SRC09-E01 CASP checklists overlap with Cochrane and ROBIS

Contradicting Evidence

Evidence Summary
SRC01-E01 Legal standards contribute clearly novel consequence-calibrated proof hierarchy
SRC02-E01 Auditing contributes novel sufficiency-appropriateness framework
SRC04-E01 FMEA's RPN is conceptually distinct from anything in the reference set

Reasoning

H2 is partially correct — some disciplines (Bradford Hill, OCEBM, CASP) do overlap heavily with the reference set. But five of eight disciplines contribute clearly novel concepts, which makes H2 too conservative overall. H1 is better supported.

Relationship to Other Hypotheses

H2 occupies the middle ground between H1 (most contribute novel concepts) and H3 (none contribute novel concepts). The evidence supports H1 over H2.