Classifying Research Gaps in Social Sciences

Abstract

Identifying research gaps constitutes a key stage in setting research directions, essential for ensuring the originality and cognitive value of research outcomes. Determining a relevant gap justifies the choice of topic and research problem, facilitates the contextualisation of a study within the existing literature, and enables the articulation of its contribution to scientific advancement. A critical analysis of current definitions and classifications of research gaps reveals excessive complexity, a lack of consistent and transparent criteria for distinguishing between types of gaps, insufficient hierarchy in terms of their significance, and a tendency to conflate definitional work with classification itself. This fragmentation and conceptual imprecision hinder researchers’ ability to effectively differentiate between types of knowledge deficits and assess their relevance to specific research problems, which limits the systematisation and cumulative development of knowledge. The article aims to propose a new classification of research gaps, grounded in original criteria concerning the scope of generalizability and the level of maturity of a given research field. This approach contributes to the development of conceptual tools that support the identification and systematisation of research gaps within the social sciences. It is designed to enhance the understanding of significant types of knowledge deficits within a given research field, which is crucial for the precise formulation of research problems and their effective solution. The article is written for educational purposes and to meet the needs of researchers refining their methodological skills.