Collecting data on any system with the goal of revealing something important or actionable about it.
Structures whose character depends not only on the properties of the individual elements of which they are composed and also the relative frequency of occurrence, but also on the manner by which the individual elements are connected with each other.
The scientistic attitude is decidedly unscientific, as it involves a mechanical and uncritical application of habits of thoughts to fields different from those in which they were formed.
Social theories are self-fulfilling. People adapt their behaviours to what you measure them for.